Sunday 29th January 2023 - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zephaniah 2:3,3:12-13/ Psalm 145(146)/ 1 Corinthians 1:26-31/ Matthew 5:1-12a

In an infamous 1979 comedy film, that some say is blasphemous. the sermon on the mount is depicted and Jesus is misheard and misquoted by people at the back of the crowd. Reading the Gospel of today it seems that in fact the words of Jesus were and are still misheard and misquoted and not just for comedic effect. In his introduction to his teaching Jesus sets out a few basic rules of life, rules that he lived by giving us the perfect example of how to live our life here on earth in the best way we can. As in most of his teaching Jesus calls us to live in a way that is seen as ‘counter cultural’. In other words, in a way that is opposite to and often opposed by the ways of the world.

The first reading from the Old Testament prophet Zephaniah lays the foundations of what Jesus was to teach. The prophet calls people to be humble in seeking the Lord with integrity and humility. It is a humble and lowly people who will find rest in the Lord. This was an idea that was alien to many who saw riches and health as signs of a holy and blameless life while poverty and misfortune were seen as a punishment for sinfulness.

The psalm continues the same theme as the prophet and can be seen as forming much of what Jesus teaches. God is just to the oppressed, feeds the hungry and sets prisoners free. He gives sight to the blind, raises up those who are bowed down and protects the stranger. In the days of Jesus widows and orphans were counted as worthless but these are to be upheld by the Lord who will reign for ever.

It is in the context of the first reading and the psalm that we can begin to see how the people mentioned by Jesus on the mount can be happy, or more accurately, blessed, in what we might consider to be their suffering. Although each category given by Jesus is matched with a reward the whole teaching should be seen as a pattern for our entire life thereby being rewarded by all the blessings to be given. We should not seek simply to follow one or two of what we now call the beatitudes but should strive to model our way of life on all of them seeking to live as Jesus did himself. We should tread softly and gently through life. It is natural that we will have to mourn for those we lose but we have the word of Jesus that we shall be comforted. There is more than hunger and thirst for food in this context, Jesus included a hunger and thirst for justice and rightfulness assuring us of a satisfaction of that craving. There is a calling to be merciful to those around us and to be pure in heart. Purity in heart is not seen by the modern world as an attribute and is scoffed at. Everywhere we look we are encouraged to act and think with impurity. The sanctity of love is reduced to mere lust by facile television programs billed as reality shows. The thought of these things being in any sense reality should fill us with dismay. Jesus commends people who make peace and warns that those seeking the cause of right will be persecuted as indeed we see they are and always have been.

I have left the first comment concerning the poor in spirit to last. This might appear a strange thing for Jesus to say and what does he mean by poor in spirit? I tend to think it is directed at people of faith who recognise that they need the grace of God to support and uphold their spirit. I am reminded of the lines in Psalm 22 which goes, ‘Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit’. Without the nourishment of the sacraments, the grace they pour out, our spirit will droop and become impoverished. We become happy or blessed when we realise our spiritual poverty and turn to God for revival. Our poverty in spirit can be a beatitude, a blessing, because through acknowledging it we seek out and become closer to God.

All these blessings are summed up by Jesus when he says that we are to be happy when people abuse us, persecute us, and direct all sorts of falsehoods against us because of our faith. We should rejoice and be glad because we will be rewarded in heaven for these sufferings on earth. This is not easy, but we have the examples of the multitude of martyrs down the ages who willingly and often joyfully followed Jesus to their own crosses of suffering and death.

Living in accordance with the beatitudes will be seen as foolish by people engrossed in the world. This is what Paul is speaking about in the extract from his letter to the church in Corinth. God chose people who are seen as weak and foolish by worldly standards to build his church on. God looks to the people that the world considers to be common and contemptable, those who are written off as valueless, to be his chosen people forming the foundation of his kingdom. In the line of this letter immediately before today’s extract Paul writes, ‘For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength’. Humanity, that sees itself as good and in control of itself has nothing at all to boast about to God. It was God who created all things and it is through God’s generosity of giving us free will that humanity has come to think itself equal to or greater than God when nothing could be further from the truth.

Today let us listen to and follow the words of Jesus from his sermon on the mount. Rather than mishearing or misquoting them let us use the beatitudes as a model for our way of life. To live a life that will be blessed and make us happy even though it might seem foolish to the world around us. As Paul suggests let us not boast about our own achievements but rather about those of the Lord. In this way we will live full and blessed lives happy in the knowledge that our reward in heaven will be great.

God Bless, Brendan.