FOURTH SUNDAY OF YEAR "A"

FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR "A"

Cycle “A”: Mathew 5, 1 – 12:

The Beatitudes

            Even today, the scene of this Sunday’s Gospel is just beautiful. Open air, pure and dry, under a clear blue sky, looking on gently sloping hills covered with soft grass and mountain flowers, the limpid water of lake Genazareth on the right, small flocks of sheep shifting slowly like the clouds in the sky. If you sit as Jesus sat on that grassy knoll and take in the scenery and air, you’ll be filled with so much peace and joy that when you breathe out you’re likely to say something beautiful, like “ How Blessed.” That’s how Jesus felt and that’s exactly what he said as he took in his lovely creation and let his eyes rest on the people sitting at his feet, their faces turned to him in loving expectation. He raises his hands in gentle reassurance, his lips begin to move, and the first word he pronounces is “Blessed.”

            Blessed, indeed, those people to have had Jesus, the Son of God, among them, to be seen and touched by him, to look into those understanding eyes and be told they are blessed.  My dear friends, there is no need for anyone of us to feel left out, because that beautiful Jesus-word has wafted over the centuries and has reached us with its grace and favour. To each one of you that comforting word is addressed: “Blessed are you.”

            The “poor in spirit” are those who know their need of God, who put God first in their lives. They are gentle and humble. Those who long for righteousness know that only God can transform their lives. The merciful have felt God’s pardon and so find it easy to forgive others. The pure in heart have a single-minded desire to seek God and to live a life of integrity. The peacemakers are blessed for never giving up their search for harmony in the world, however tiresome this may be. Like the prophets before them, the followers of Jesus will also be persecuted. Persecution has come home. The shadow of the Cross falls over all the Beatitudes. The price of the world’s peace was paid in the blood that gushed from the wrists and ankles and heart of Jesus. That operation was without anaesthetic.  And though it pained him, it healed us. How blessed are you in attack from others who don’t understanding you, because you have the courage to go on, to begin anew again and again, stolid in your faith in the God who gives you a new childhood lest you grow old in serving him.

            When we are blessed we feel God’s consolation. The person who has not felt the need to be consoled, who hasn’t experienced anguish and tears, has not reached full maturity. Everyone has the need to be consoled. It is the root of spiritual experience. Those who feel the need of divine consolation cling spontaneously to God. They are empty of self. With child-like simplicity they have recourse to God in all their needs, material and spiritual. For them, God has become our dear “Abba”, a living and loving person, really a member of their own family. They speak to him, they beg him, they entreat him, they thank him, they complain to him, they just feel at home with him. Their relationship with God is marked by a quiet trust, restful, unperturbed, and serene. God can relax in their family circle. The “poor in spirit” never boast of their own achievements, for they owe everything to God.  Such a person is a pure receiver, who can only empty herself to be filled with God. Such a person is content with the caresses of the Divine Parent.  “Blessed are you”

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the high calling of Jesus’ teaching. We will be confronted with stark moral choices. Moral choices are not simply issues of sexual behaviour, although this area of our lives poses many challenges. Every day we are called to be poor in spirit, to mourn for our sins, to want to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to show mercy, to be pure in heart and to be peacemakers. The best way is to look at Jesus. Gaze upon him, the one who lived fully and completely a life in the power of the Spirit.

PRAYER: You are the original and eternally blessed one; and your beloved Son, Jesus, is the primordial Sacrament  of your blessedness in our midst. O Gracious Lord, you enrich our poverty and fill our need; you revive and refresh our humanity. May every situation in our life be a channel of your blessedness: our poverty, our craving for goodness, purity and peace, and our service of the neighbour.