As we enter the fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we encounter the beautiful but challenging teachings of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes present us with a paradox. Jesus says that the people who are suffering by the world’s standards are actually blessed. In fact, the word blessed in Greek means someone who is so fortunate they should be envied!

The world says that blessing or good fortune is based on riches, honor, fame, pleasure, and worldly possessions. The problem is that all these things don’t make us happy for very long. Think about how you feel when you make a large purchase like an expensive electronic device or a new car. Sure, you feel happy for a while, but in six months, will you still feel that thrill? Probably not.

Jesus offers us a very different picture of happiness. He tells us that only one thing can make us truly happy and that is God. God alone gives us perfect happiness, but in order to have that perfect happiness, we need to do what Jesus describes in the Beatitudes.

The world tells us to be powerful; Jesus tells us to be meek. The world tells us to look for pleasure; Jesus tells us that we will be comforted in our sorrow. The world tells us to acquire wealth; Jesus tells us to be poor in spirit.

And therein lies the paradox. We may lose out on the world's idea of happiness, but we will obtain a happiness that can never be taken away. By embracing what the world rejects, we ultimately gain exactly what the world seeks.
 
 

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FIRST READING

You humble of the land, seek justice and humility, and the Lord will be your protection (Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13).

The idea of the remnant is a conƟnuing theme in the prophetic book. The remnant isn't simply a limited number of survivors of some catastrophe that awaits in the future, but what has been described as an eschatological remnant that not only survives, yet continues to do so because its members are holy. This idea passes into the Christian age through St. Paul, who identifies those Jews who accept Christ as the faithful remnant of the true Israel onto which the Gentiles are graŌed in a new Israel. It’s this remnant that makes it possible for God to remain true to his covenantal promises and yet deliver jusƟce to the sinner.

Within the covenant there’s always a universal promise of blessing, but there’s also implied a particular application of the promise made to all. That is, to receive what’s promised to all, one must struggle to be numbered among the remnant of the true Israel which is “a people humble and lowly.” As has often been said, God’s justice and mercy are one and the same thing. The unrepentant experience it as the justice meted out on “the day of the Lord” while the righteous receive the blessings of his sheltering mercy in the covenant to which they have been faithful.

 

SECOND READING

God chose the weak of the world, those who count for nothing, so that whoever boasts should boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

This section of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a perfect fit with the theme of the lowly and humble remnant mentioned above, which will be described as those blest in the Gospel just following. It has always been one of the most salient characteristics of ChrisƟanity that appeals to the lowly. That’s one of the causes of its rapid spread in disparate places such as ancient Rome and modern India. The low-born plebeians and slaves of the Roman empire found that they were as welcome amongst the Christians as the high-born patricians, and they spread the faith throughout the world. Likewise, the low caste peoples of India, the so-called “untouchables,” are embraced by the Christian community to the point that the majority of Indian Catholics are from those castes.

To this very day, St. Paul’s words sound as though he’s speaking directly to the average Catholic in the pew: “Not many of you are wise, as men account wisdom; not many are influenƟal; and surely not many are well-born.”

 

GOSPEL

Jesus taught from the mountain: Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:1-12a).

The goal of life in Christ is beatitude, blessing. That story needs so much to be told. So many think that the moral life consists entirely of following laws. One who lives life in Christ will certainly be law abiding. But as the introduction to this section of the Catechism makes clear, our faith, celebrated in the sacraments, brings us into a new life of grace which expresses an inner impulse to do all that Christ has commanded and to love in the measure that he loved—that is, without measure. It’s the grace of the sacraments which gives us this life, which is why in the Catechism’s first article on the sacraments, it says that the whole of God’s plan is “one vast divine blessing” and that “in the Church’s liturgy, the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated” (CCC 1079,1082).

The life of Christ, or perhaps, rather, the life of Christ in us, leads us to live as he did. The Beatitudes describe everything that he was. Whether the least or the greatest, when we live this blessed life we do come to know him. Knowing him, we love him and our neighbor all the more

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MEDITATION:

Imagine that you are seated on the hillside, listening to Jesus preach. Now you hear him say, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted." What goes through your mind when you hear these words? In what area of your life are you mourning? How do you think that God can comfort you in your sorrow?

Next, you hear Jesus go on to say,

• "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. /
• Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. /
• Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. /
• Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. / 
• Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. /
• Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. /
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. /
• Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. /
• Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. "

Which of these statements do you find the most challenging? Which of these teachings do you think Jesus might be asking you to practice more in your life right now?

RESOLUTION:

Choose one of the Beatitudes and write down three ways that you might live it out this week in your family, your workplace, or your parish.
 

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Opening the Word offers prayers and insights for the Sunday Scriptural lessons. Watch the video presentation that accompanies this reflection FREE at   Formed.org.