Blessed are you! 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Emmanuel Suntheni OSB Sermon – Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: The Blessedness! Uncertainty and Confidence! Blessed are you!
Point of Reflection: How can a poor man be blessed? Go in the remote areas and tell the poor man, you are blessed! My friend, you will be bitten terribly. What kind of teaching is this about beatitudes? In today’s sermon, we have examined the true meaning of beatitudes by intensifying the uncertainty and confidence.
First Reading: Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12–13
Psalm: Psalm 146:6–10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:26–31
Gospel: Matthew 5:1–12
Sermon (Reflection): All three readings of today indicate that uncertainties and tensions are inevitable in the life of a person who follows God’s ways in this world. Both Zephaniah and the Christian community at Corinth experienced this first-hand in their historical and social circumstances. Jesus did not hide the difficulty either. On the contrary, he began his instructions by outlining the essential attitudes required for discipleship, the attitudes which stand in fundamental tension with ordinary and natural human expectations and ways.
For the next five consecutive Sundays, the Gospel readings will be drawn from the first of Jesus’ great discourses in the Gospel of Matthew, the famous “Sermon on the Mount.” Matthew presents Jesus as a new Moses, who, in this first discourse delivers a set of fundamental instructions which provide the framework for the life of his followers and disciples. The discourse begins with the passage commonly known as “the Beatitudes.”
As Christians, we need to understand better the Beatitudes. A Beatitude is a literary form built on creating a link between an action or attitude and its outcome. This serves both to affirm and call the faithful to that particular way of behaving and living, as behaviour that brings about God’s blessing. The Matthean beatitudes can be interpreted in a number of ways, however, it is obvious that the behaviour and attitudes recommended by Jesus are not those normally adopted and followed by contemporary society.
The meaning of poor in spirit is, “poverty in spirit” – the attitude of reliance on God rather than on one’s own powers and efforts – is the opposite of the self-sufficiency and independence which people ardently pursue in life.
“Mourning” – being troubled by the world and its ways – is not the emotion felt by those who welcome and follow the ways of established society.
“Meekness” – humility and modesty – is not the way to secure one’s social position.
“Hunger for righteousness” – insistence on justice and fairness in society and the community – is unpopular with the powerful, and poses the risk of ridicule.
“Mercy” – the attitude of care and concern for the wellbeing of others– goes against the selfish and self-concerned attitudes that dominate society.
“Purity of heart” – honesty and integrity in life – often reduces the chances of enrichment and advancement in a society which favours dishonesty and manipulation. “Peacemaking” – pursuit of harmony in the community – is difficult because it requires compromises and unpopular solutions to secure the rights of all, not only one’s own.
“Being persecuted for the sake of righteousness” – the price one pays for upholding justice and integrity – is not the situation that a person would normally and readily welcome. In other words, these beatitudes turn the standards of common life, and the values of society, upside down.
Identifying them as the source of blessedness Jesus traces a drastically different framework of life for his disciples. He knew full well that those who would follow these eight instructions, would be bound to live in tension with the greater society, and even with their own families. Still, by describing the ultimate positive outcome of such behaviour, Jesus offers his disciples the supreme confidence that this unusual way of life is the right one to follow.
Today’s first reading is from the oracle which addresses the remnant with an exhortation to seek the Lord through humble observance of God’s law and the pursuit of justice. Still, the prophet’s admonitions contain an element of uncertainty as he states that God will “perhaps” save the humble and just. This uncertainty is understandable given the distressing circumstances of the time, the gravity of the nation’s fall, and the awareness that judgement has been decreed. Will the faithfulness of a few humble and just outweigh the apostasy of the majority of the nation and bring about God’s saving intervention?
The second part of the oracle reflects a different attitude, as if the prophet was engaged in an internal dialogue with himself. The word “perhaps” disappears, replaced with the absolute confidence that God will surely leave a “remnant” consisting of the humble and lowly. These are the few who followed the advice to be humble and just. They are promised rest and peace – signs of God salvation.
Another type of tension is evident in the words of St Paul to the Corinthians. This troubled community was deeply divided. However, in today’s passage the Apostle does not address internal conflicts, but the tension between the Christians and the larger Greek society they were a part of. The world of Paul and the early Christians was permeated by the culture of “honour and shame.” Pursuit of “honour” – being wealthy, respected, influential, wise in words, and independent – was life’s goal for the majority of people. In this context, Paul emphasised that Christian life is not about the pursuit of that type of honour. He implored the Corinthians to refrain from judging themselves according to society’s standards. Instead of pursuing power, wealth and significance, he admonished adherence to Christ. Christ, who according to the standards of the society of the time, was a social failure who came into conflict with society and suffered a shameful death reserved for criminals.
Following him, Christians are to pursue different goals and values, not the ones acknowledged and followed by contemporary society.
His admonition would and did place the Corinthians in a situation of inevitable tension with their own social context.
Christian Act in Word of God “Blessed are you”
Can we not summarise the beatitudes in this way: “Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners, the kingdom of heaven is yours!”
These words present a challenge to us living today, a challenge which demands a deep change of heart. Why is this change of heart necessary? Because today we continue to hear a contradictory message, a voice which says: “Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way”. We hear and see this message everywhere: it shouts at us from the TV screen, newspapers, and the very set-up of our society which advertises success in life regardless of the cost, often through force, cheating and even violence. This voice seems to make sense in a world where success is the measure of the good life, where the violent and dishonest often triumph and the devious seem to succeed. “Yes”, says the voice of evil, “they are the ones who win. Happy are they!”
Jesus offers a very different message. He calls us to choose between the two voices competing for our hearts, the choice between good and evil, between his ways and the ways of the world and society at large. But he cautions us through the beatitudes that the choice is not only between living in this or that way now; the choice is between life and death. To put your faith in Jesus means choosing to believe what he says, no matter how strange it may seem, and living in the world belonging to his Kingdom. It also means rejecting many of the ways that appear “normal” to us because so many follow them. It means choosing between the unpopular but lasting, and the sensible and attractive but short-lived. Jesus himself did not merely speak the Beatitudes, he lived the Beatitudes. Looking at him we see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to face persecution.
This is why he has the right to say, “Come, follow me!” His life guarantees that when we do follow him, we have chosen the right path, one which leads to life eternal, life which he calls “blessed.”
Action: Today I open my heart to Jesus Christ so that I will be blessed and be a peacemaker. “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, today you have taught us about blessedness – may we open our hearts to receive your grace. Lead us to eternity and listen to our hearts’ prayer Lord! Teach us the truth of the Commandments and the Beatitudes! Keep us close to you at all times so that we may be better Christians, Amen.
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