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Imitate Christ And You Will Be Blessed

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Imitate Christ And You Will Be Blessed

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Zeph 2.3, 3.12-13;  
I Cor 1.26-31;  
Mt 5.1-12

Today’s readings offer us an important message that through the eternal wisdom of God, we can seek and find Him, our spiritual happiness. Today’s gospel, which is popularly known as the Sermon on the Mount, consists of a short but very concentrated passage of teaching by our Lord, coming in Matthew’s gospel almost at the beginning of His public ministry. Great crowds were following Him, attracted by His message, by His authority and, of course, by His ability to cure the sick. This work that He was doing matched very closely what the Old Testament prophesies had said were signs of the Messiah and so there were also many attracted by that possibility.The Old Testament teaching has perennial value. It is the word of God.  Because it has divine authority it deserves total respect. Its moral laws and precepts are for the most part clear statements by God of the natural law. But now Our Lord has come to give these laws greater weight and meaning.

And what are the core values of these laws? what are the moral and spiritual values which our Lord is putting before the people?  Well, so much could be said but here are two observations. The first of these is seen most clearly in the third of these eight blessings: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” The notion of righteousness in the language of the Bible, is the same as what is nowadays usually called “holiness”. In other words, Our Blessed Lord is asking us not to have simply a vague desire for this holiness; we must hunger and thirst for it. It must be as basic to the needs of our spiritual life as food and drink are to our bodily existence. We must long for it, depend upon it, constantly strive to be holy. We must constantly try to discover what makes a person righteous in God’s eyes and then keep doing what we can to become holy. Being holy or righteous means being in a right relationship with God, and so necessarily enjoying his favour, being blessed by him.
 
More importantly, any person who genuinely wants to reach Christian holiness should love the means which the Church offers to us all and teaches us to use, for the Church is the continuing existence of the body of Christ here and now. And what means does the Church offer to us?  Frequent use of the sacraments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, and a true understanding and acceptance of our responsibilities, within our families, within our work, within society. These are all means by which we can grow in holiness. And they all show two things: that we have obligations, that there are things which we can and must do if we are to grow in holiness, but that ultimately, it is by God’s gift to us, his grace, that we are made holy. And that is the meaning of what is commended to us in the first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” This attitude refers not precisely to humility, but more to an attitude of dependence upon God and detachment from earthly supports.
 
Another thing noteworthy of is the reward, the blessing which is promised in this first of the beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And indeed, this reward clearly runs through all the beatitudes until it is repeated quite explicitly in the last one. The most striking deviation from the Old Testament teaching is the timing of the reward. The assumption in the wisdom books is that virtue or good actions are rewarded in the present, that earthly happiness is a blessing from God and a reward for good behaviour, and unhappiness and misfortune are a kind of punishment. In contrast with this, these New Testament beatitudes promise their reward in God’s kingdom. They primarily refer to our heavenly reward, to the end of time, although there may be some anticipation of the reward in the present. The spirit of the beatitudes does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. But that is not their main promise: when God’s kingdom comes, the kind of people who possess the virtues extolled and do what they entail will be rewarded. The beatitudes lay out the characteristics and the actions that will receive their full reward from God at the end of time.
 
And so, in their simplicity and directness, the beatitudes constituted a challenge to those who gathered on the mountain to hear the teachings of the new covenant from the very lips of the Word of God Himself. They had been taught the old covenant and now this was being affirmed again in the way that Jesus fulfilled it. He showed that the law remained; but now He showed them the true depth of the will of God and the truth of the reward which He was offering.  And, in their simplicity and directness, the beatitudes continue to constitute a challenge to us now; we celebrated the Word of God last Sunday and we see their fulfillment in today’s gospel. What is going to be my response considering the scriptures or teachings of the Church today? How am I going to grow in my spiritual life because of my response? Is it going to push me outside of my comfort zone? Am I willing to take the risk? With the help of God’s grace, may we not be found lacking. Amen.

Fr Joseph Osho

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