FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13

Psalm 146

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Matthew 5:1-12

THE PATHS TO BLESSEDNESS

On this Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we begin the Sermon on the Mount as presented by the evangelist Saint Matthew. Jesus goes up to the mountain, sits down and begins to teach his disciples. He proclaims “blessed” (happy) the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the merciful, those who hunger for righteousness, the pure in heart, the persecuted. 

In this way, Matthew presents Jesus as the new Moses and the Beatitudes as the “Magna Carta” of the new People of God. The Beatitudes are therefore the paths to true happiness and the secrets to free oneself from the false values of the world. 

Moreover, the message of the Beatitudes runs through the first and second readings. For Saint Paul, God chooses the foolish of the world to shame the wise, the weak of the world to shame the strong. He chooses the lowly and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. According to the prophet Zephaniah, only the powerless and the poor, those who seek justice and humility will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. 

As such, today’s readings remind us that we are the People of God. God has chosen us to be part of his Kingdom. He has called us to blessedness. But to be truly happy or attain blessedness, we do not need to live by human standards, but rather by the standards of the Gospel. In fact, true happiness is not found in fame, wealth, power or earthly pleasures. We experience true happiness when we have good relationships with God and with others. We are happy when we recognize our dependence on God; for without him, we are nothing. We are happy and blessed when we are humble, meek, forgiving, merciful in our relationships with others, because arrogance, pride and selfishness lead to self-destruction.

 

Let us therefore ask the Lord the grace to live by his standards so as to be truly happy not only in this present life, but also in the life to come. Amen