Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, January 29, 2023. The Gospel of St. Matthew 5:1-12. Theme: The True Blessedness of Real Happiness
In today’s Gospel, Jesus begins what has come to be known as his famous Sermon on the Mount. He starts it off by proclaiming the eight Beatitudes which paint a word picture of what a true disciple of His should look like. Not physically, of course, but morally and spiritually. The word “beatitude” means both “blessed” and “happy”. “Blessed” because the Beatitudes make us more like Jesus, and “happy” because they promise rewards that will be ours for all eternity.
Jesus begins by praising those who are “poor in spirit”. That “in spirit” part is very important. He’s not endorsing economic poverty but is talking about a lifestyle that refuses to be enslaved by material things. Consumerism drives us to buy way more than what we need and slick advertising misleads us into thinking that happiness consists of possessing everything we want. But Jesus says that the ones who will attain lasting happiness are those who are truly free from the inside out, who are not owned by their wealth and possessions but trust in God’s fatherly care for all their needs.
“Blessed are they who mourn” may sound a bit odd at first. But it’s really praising those who have a tender heart that has empathy for the pain and struggles of others. You see, a person can only truly mourn if they have a heart that is open to the vulnerability of love. Jesus blesses them because they have not closed their eyes to the suffering of others and he promises that God will reward them for their compassion.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land” sounds contradictory because we imagine that it is the rich and powerful who will end up on top. However we can find the key to understanding this Beatitude in today's second reading from St. Paul. He says that God chooses the foolish of the world to shame the wise, the weak of the world to shame the strong, and the lowly and despised of the world who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who think they are something. In other words, this Beatitude reminds us that what matters to God is not one's portfolio or pocketbook. God is the Champion of the poor and Defender of the Vulnerable. The meek, that is those who are humble and lowly, will receive their reward in God’s kingdom when the injustices they suffered will be made right and when those who oppressed them will be dealt with according to their deeds.
Jesus uses an experience very familiar to his listeners to teach the next beatitude on righteousness, which means living in a right relationship with God. They were primarily working class people who lived under an extremely oppressive government that literally taxed every penny they earned. So they knew what it was like to be truly hungry and go to bed with an empty stomach. Many of them lived on the edge of the desert wilderness where water was precious, so they also knew what it meant to be extremely thirsty. Jesus says to them, in effect, “Blessed are they who desire union with God as much as they want food for their aching stomachs and drink for their burning thirst.”
“Blessed are the merciful…” is similar to the beatitude of mourning, however, it goes one step beyond just having empathy for others. Mercy obliges us to take the mourning that is in our hearts and translate it into concrete acts of love on behalf of the poor and needy. In our relationships it calls us to treat those around us with kindness and to extend forgiveness to those who harm us. Jesus is basically saying, “what goes around, comes around”, so if we want God to be merciful and forgiving to us then we must be merciful and forgiving to others.There’s no other way around it!
“Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God” is not about sexual purity as people often think. A pure or clean heart means having a clear conscience that comes from having our priorities in life in their proper order. Jesus told us what that order is: God first, others second, and ourselves last. A clean heart is what beats within those who have their priorities straight and who live their lives accordingly. To “see God” means to attain union with Him in Paradise, which is the ultimate happiness and the goal of human life.
The popular Peace Prayer of St. Francis is our best guide to living out the seventh beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” If every day we try to put into practice the words of that simple prayer we will be truly blessed as the children of God. It spells out for us the definition of a peacemaker as one who sows love where there is hatred; pardon where there is injury; faith where there is doubt; hope where there is despair; light where there is darkness; and joy where there is sadness. It describes peacemakers as those who are able to forget themselves for the sake of loving others in word and deed.
The last two blessings for the persecuted and insulted actually form just one beatitude: “Blessed are they who are persecuted…and… insulted…because of Me.” Jesus is informing us that persecution of all kinds will indeed come our way because of our relationship with Him. He Himself was ridiculed and slandered during His ministry and ultimately persecuted in His Passion. And at the Last Supper he clearly informed us that we will be treated no differently. But He promises that we who suffer injustice with Him and because of Him will also share the eternal happiness of His Glory and Resurrection.
The saints call the Beatitudes a description of a Christian because they are a description of Jesus Christ Himself. He was poor and meek. His hunger and thirst was to do the will of his Father. He mourned over suffering and was merciful towards others. Everything he said and did was for the glory of God his Father and the good of others. And this is supposed to be our attitude as well. This is how we are supposed to think and act, how we are supposed to love and live. With this in mind, let’s ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to embrace these Beatitudes so that we can think and act more like Jesus day-by-day and become, like Him, a blessing, a living beatitude so to speak, to those around us.
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