Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A
Scripture Readings: Prophet Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13; Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 1:26-31; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 5:1-12
We continue our way through Ordinary Time, leading up to the season of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 18th. At that time, we will “leave aside” Ordinary Time, resumed once again after the celebration of Pentecost Sunday, this year on May 24th.
This Sunday the Gospel relates, through the words of the Evangelist Saint Matthew, the beginning of the “Sermon on the Mount,” as it has come to be known. And more specifically, the conveying by Jesus of what we now call the, “Beatitudes,” which outline the path of true happiness.
If we listen attentively to Jesus’ words, we can grow and deepen in our following of the Lord, who has called us each by name, and who desires that we find fulfillment in our adherence to Christ, in whom we “live and move and have our being,” as Saint Paul taught (see Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17:28.
The Sermon on the Mount also calls to mind another mountain, Sinai, harkening back to the Ten Commandments, given by Moses to the people of God centuries before the birth of Jesus. The “Second Moses” is another title given to Jesus, and for good reason, since Jesus is the giver of the New Law, which he encapsulates in the Sermon on the Mount.
What Jesus offers is a summary and a fulfillment of the Law of Moses, but in the case of Jesus, it is not so much a ‘law’ that is given, as it is a Gospel, that is, “good news,” for all the nations, of all times and places, past, present and future.
The notion of law usually implies moral norms to be followed in order to obtain a reward, and these certainly have a place in the teaching of Jesus. More importantly, though, the Gospel message of Jesus is a proclamation that God’s desire for our salvation of all, now realized and fulfilled in adhering to Christ the Lord.
After Jesus’ forty days in the desert, and at the beginning of his public ministry, John the Baptist announced the coming of God’s Kingdom, and the need for conversion. In Greek the word is “metanoia,” that is, a change of heart and of direction, in order to belong completely to God. This was symbolized by people being baptized in water, indicating their repentance and adherence to God.
Jesus too began his ministry by preaching the need for conversion, being baptized by John in order to emphasize the purifying ritual of adoption as children of God through the waters of baptism.
By our own baptism, we have “put on Christ,” like receiving a new garment. We don’t “take it,” but rather “receive it,” as a freely offered gift from our God.
Consequently, baptism is a permanent reality, and we cannot be “unbaptized,” despite the efforts of some nowadays in various parts of the world to be deemed “unbaptized,” as though the sacrament could be “undone.”
The Sermon on the Mount is best understood as an illustration of the need for “conversion,” which implies drawing closer to God and God drawing closer to us. The Beatitudes are about one’s attitude towards God and about one’s attitude toward others. In that sense they encompass all of our interactions.
Jesus is asking us in the Beatitudes to become “poor,” best understood as being humble-minded, rather than arrogant and haughty.
We are also called to “mourn,” not because we consider ourselves useless, but in order to recognize our wrong choices, have regret for them, and most importantly, to resolve to be guided by the teachings of the Gospel and the Church.
We need to be “meek’ as well, that is, gentle-minded, which an expression of a peaceful soul.
Showing mercy is also included in the Beatitudes, that is, a readiness to forgive, even when we are treated unfairly. Included in this is to be compassionate, as our Heavenly Father is compassionate, emphasized by Jesus in another place in the Gospels (see Luke 6:36).
Purity of heart is also extolled in the Beatitudes, meaning being single-minded, with no evil intentions, but desiring the good of others. Doing so places one in God’s presence and enjoying the gifts God bestows on those who love God and who do good.
Being peacemakers is also singled out in the Beatitudes, since God is the Lord of Peace and we are called to be pursuers of peace (see 2 Corinthians 13:11).
Finally, even a willingness to suffer persecution should not be foreign to the follower of Christ. The persecuted are not to fear, but ever mindful of the reward of heaven for those who persevere in loving until the end. In other words, this life is not the entire picture, but part of our adventure of “going to God.”
May we be ready and willing at all time to share in this great journey of walking in the ways of the Lord, with the Beatitudes as guideposts along the way.
Abbot Christian Leisy, OSB