4th Sunday in Ordinary time year A | Homily for 29 January 2023.

 

On the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A we have readings that challenge us to question the role of God in our life and our response to God as Christians.

The first reading is taken from the 7^th-century minor prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah writes before the exile to Babylon has taken place. During this time in Judah, there was a sense of indifference to God. They were content with their wealth and property which they had earned through violence and fraud. They felt secure with the foreign alliances that they had made. Therefore, Zephaniah warns about the imminent punishment- exile. He exhorts the people to seek Yahweh—to seek righteousness—to seek humility. Those who seek Yahweh, righteousness, and humility, could save themselves from judgement.

When Yahweh exercises judgment the ones who will be saved will be the Anawim, the poor suffering people who trust in the Lord despite oppression. The Anawim know the limitations of their personal resources and take refuge in the name of Yahweh. The call is to follow spiritual poverty – using material things with a sense of detachment according to one’s need, believing in the providence of God. The prophet assures the Anawim of the love and protection of Yahweh.

In the second reading taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we see Paul highlighting the contrast between God’s wisdom and the world’s wisdom. The reading is a continuation of the passage “the message of the cross” wherein Paul mentions that the message about the cross is confusing to the wisest of human minds. Paul agrees that the message of the cross is, from any normal perspective, foolishness, yet what appears as foolishness is really “the power of God and the wisdom of God”. God did marvellous works in the salvation history of the Israelites and he continues to use the cross and Paul’s preaching of the same to enact salvation for Jews and Greeks alike.

Without a personal encounter with the risen Christ, it is difficult for people to have a conviction through intellectual means. The death of Jesus on the cross did not convince or persuade the people at the time of Paul, and neither does it convince the people today. However, to those who have come to have a personal encounter with Jesus, the death of Jesus on the cross is indeed salvific. St. Paul in conclusion exhorts us to boast in the Lord, and not of ourselves as He is our righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

The gospel taken from Matthew contains the famous narrative of the beatitudes. During the time of Jesus, the term poor had two dimensions of meaning - the spiritually poor and the materially poor and this reflects in the two different forms of the beatitudes in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Lucan passage has only four beatitudes which focus more on physical realities while Matthew’s eight beatitudes on the other hand tend more to the spiritual aspect.

Each beatitude begins with the Greek word, makarios, which is usually translated as “blessed” or “happy.” However, it doesn’t refer to happiness in our modern sense of merely being comfortable or entertained at the moment rather blessed refers to a fortunate state of life, a gift of God.

The beatitudes for me are like a mirror that shows us who Jesus was and at the same time what we are called to be as Christians. The beatitudes can be understood as giving the believer his “be – attitudes” – the attitudes he should “be.” All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians.

So what are these character traits? First, is the poor in spirit which refers to relying on God’s providence than on material possessions. Second, mourning doesn’t refer to casual sorrow for sin but indicates an intense degree of mourning before God over our fallen state. Those who mourn over their sin and their sinful condition are promised comfort. Third, being meek doesn’t refer to being passive or easily pushed around. It means strength under control, like a strong horse that was trained to do the job instead of running wild. The next is the hunger for righteousness which describes a profound hunger that cannot be satisfied by food. It is a real, natural, intense driving force to fight for justice and equality. We then have being merciful. It refers to not only being merciful to the weaker and poorer sections of society but also the merciful one will be forgiving to others, and always looking to restore broken relationships. A merciful person will choose to get involved in the life of the other and give a helping hand instead of merely expressing sympathy. Next is the pure in heart who have an inner moral purity. They are of a single, undivided heart – those who are utterly sincere and not divided in their devotion and commitment to God. Then we have being peacemakers which does not describe those who live in peace, but those who actually bring about peace, overcoming evil with good. They are bridge builders and not wall builders in society.

Those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, and who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers suffer because of their faithfulness to God, and they trust in God to vindicate them. While those who oppress God’s people may be fortunate for a moment, they who trust the Lord will be fortunate forever. Jesus calls those who would be his followers to this radical commitment and hope. Through his life and teachings, Jesus lived out all these beatitudes. He calls his disciples to follow his own way, since he himself suffered for his faithfulness to God, trusting that God will vindicate him.

The readings of today call us to self-introspection. Do we rely on God or like the people at the time of Zephaniah, do we have a sense of indifference to God? What are our God experiences that could help us to glorify God? And lastly, in which areas do I need to grow to become a true Christian? God requires our cooperation to build His kingdom. If, therefore, injustice and oppression continue it is because we have not done our part in word and deed. We have not been true Christians. We pray for the grace to seek Yahweh and become true Christians. May we be able to look into the mirror and see the reflection of a true Christian who lives the beatitudes. May God bless us all.