January 29th 2023. Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 5, 1-12

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

 

Gospel:Matthew     5:1-12      

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples.

Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

‘How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.’

The Gospel of the Lord.   Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

1. The spiritual life is not about moral coherence but happiness

The first reading from Zephaniah tells how the powerful, the nobles and the religious leaders will be taken into exile because of the infidelity of Israel, but the poor people will be spared this purification. The kings often led the people into idolatry, resulting in the deportation of the rich and powerful to Babylon. In the fifth chapter of Matthew, we have the Beatitudes. This reminds us of something that we often forget. The repetition of the word “blessed” or “happy” emphasizes the joy to which we are called. Too often we turn the spiritual life into a striving after perfection or spiritual narcissism.  We think Christianity is a question of moral coherence, but it is actually a question of personal happiness. The saint or holy person is not someone sad but someone who has found the beautiful kernel of life.

 

2. It is the humble, the meek, the merciful, those who strive after right, who discover the happiness of the life of the Kingdom

Who finds this kernel? The poor in spirit! Their humble condition permits them to receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are meek will inherit the land because their focus is on a greater inheritance – the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven - than the worthless prosperity that we seek after here below. Happy are those who seek justice, not in the sense of revindication, but in the sense of the Kingdom, as we discover later. It is those who seek true righteousness and holiness who will be satisfied. The merciful are those who are aware of their own need of mercy. They find mercy because they pardon others, as the Our Father exhorts us. We need to forgive because we too are in need of forgiveness. This is true happiness, to experience the mercy of God.

 

3. Then our hearts are purified and we begin to see God. Then we begin to strive after peace.

It is in this way that our hearts are transformed, through this poverty, these tears, this meekness, this thirst for what is right. Then one begins to have a heart that is no longer deceived, that is pure, an authentic heart that is in touch with the centre of our existence. Finally, then, we begin to see God, and this is real beatitude – to see God in our lives, in the things that happen to us, even in tribulation. Then, we become operators for peace, and nothing counts more than peace. Sometimes we meet those full of aggression who seek to put things right at all costs. These are not makers of peace but of war. Sometimes they do it in the name of God, and religious violence becomes the most aggressive of the passions. Peacemakers are “sons of God” and we see this in the only Son, Christ, who brings peace between heaven and earth with his blood. Those who are persecuted, excluded, are the very ones who enter the Kingdom of heaven.

 

4. If we have lost joy in our lives, it is because we have lost humility, meekness, true mourning, true mercy. It is because we battle for the wrong things and seek success and applause.

These Beatitudes are the pathways of joy. Often, when we lose the joy in our lives, it is because we have lost these pathways. We are no longer in touch with our own poverty, we have forgotten our real motive for mourning, we fight the wrong battles, we have hunger and thirst for stupid things, we are slaves of mediocre and useless passions. We forget that we need mercy because our hearts are confused, we fight battles instead of striving for peace. We end up being people who live to be applauded, to have success.

 

5. It is not in possessions, success, laughter or entertainment that we find happiness, but in entrusting ourselves to the Father as Jesus did. Then we will experience the peace of the Spirit.

The Beatitudes finish with: ‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.’ Again, the key to this line is the first word: “happy” (or “blessed”). This is the secret of the saints, of those who belong to Christ. Even in the midst of persecution, their hearts remain steadfast. It is the Holy Spirit who consoles them and brings peace, the same Spirit of Christ who entrusted himself to the Father on the cross. It is only in God that our soul finds repose, not in the world or possessions, not in reward, entertainment, laughter. All the successes and celebrations of this world have their days counted. Everything will one day be washed away in the face of that which really matters, the Kingdom of Heaven.