4th Sunday
(Year A) 29 January 2017
• Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13 • Psalm 146 • 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 • Matthew 5:1-12a•
[__01__] We read this Sunday from the Matthew, Chapter
5, the Beatitudes and the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins: “Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
[__01.01__] “When I was your age … ” “When I was your age … ”
If someone begins a sentence like this, it is probably
going to be a SERMON, a sermon on the mount from someone more senior, more
elder to us.
“When I was your age … ”
Someone is going to tell us how it was.
And, Jesus is telling us how it was, how it is, and how it
will be for a disciple, for a follower of his Gospel.
Jesus is telling us this, to encourage us, not to frighten
us, not to scare us, but to encourage us and to challenge us.
[__02_ ] “When I was your age …”
When I heard my grandmother and my
grandfather speak of their emigration from Ireland and their immigration to the
United States, I expected to hear of some challenge. And, occasionally, I was
frightened to hear about what each of them endured.
Without any money and just a few family
connections, they had to work as hard as they could in Bayonne, Jersey City,
and New York to support their family.
They returned only very intermittently
to see their family in Ireland. In my grandmother’s case, she departed Ireland
as a teenager and returned only once at the age of 73.
My grandfather also reported the
inconvenient truth of his arrival in January of 1929 in New York, a few months
before the stock market crash of October 1929. As he said, “I arrived here just in time.”
“When I was your age …”
[__03_ ] When our parents or teachers give us these
autobiographies, these stories of their lives, they are often trying to tell
us, to challenge us. And, I did not dare to disagree with them.
They are reminding us that we have it
easier than they did.
[__04__] And, I did not dare to disagree with them.
And, while, at times, I dared – in my own mind – to think they were not as
sophisticated or educated as I am, I also do not know that I could have
attained their success or persevered as well.
What if I were their age?
In some cases, our elders, our
parents, our coaches, our teachers are touching on subjects contained in the
Beatitudes. They are encouraging us to do our best, to persevere, while also
acknowledging that we will experience, each in our own way --
·
Poverty
·
The sorrow of mourning and grief
·
Meekness, humility
·
Persecution
These are also the themes of the
Beatitudes.
[__05_ ] And, in the beginning of the Sermon on the
Mount, Jesus our Savior, was also communicating – though not complaining –
about these things to us. He is saying that a life of virtue, honesty, integrity
that would also bring at times…
·
Poverty
·
Sorrow of mourning and grief
·
Meekness, humility
·
Persecution
In other words, there will not
always be fairness or justice in our lives.
[__06__] Also, Jesus is reminding us that though we
may have money or wealth, status, popularity, education, none of this is as
important as our loving relationship with God and loving relationship with
others is more important than any of these.
[** pause **]
What is the greatest commandment? “Love God
with all of your heart, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37)
These are the treasures in heaven
which cannot be disturbed or destroyed by the elements of the weather or a bad
economy or bad luck.
[__08__] In fact, theses treasures grow in value when
we recall that for example…
[__08.01__] MONEY AND WEALTH. These are blessings which
we both own and are called to share. We
should not be too attached to them, thus all of us are called to the spirit and
attitude of poverty and simplicity, of detachment regardless of our bank
account, whether we have big money or a little money.
Blessed are the poor in the spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
[__08.02__] LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS AND FAMILY BONDS.
These are of great value. Of course,
we cherish and treasure these relationships to our mothers and fathers, to our
spouse, to our children and grandchildren, our sisters and brothers, our good
friends.
Yet, at times, we are asked to say
farewell, to recognize that God has a timeline and a plan for our lives that is
not in our calendar or written in our agenda or on our phones.
At such times, our tears, our
lamentations, our sorrows, prayers and our support of each other are
important. We are called to grief and to
acknowledge our sorrow, and to grieve together.
Such honesty about our sadness and
pain helps us to grow and to love. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will
be comforted.
[__08.03__] STATUS AND POWER. Certainly, our reputation has value. Your
personal reputation has value. It is to be protected. Yet, at times, all of us
will be humbled, we will be shaken up. Not everyone is going to admire us,
appreciate us. This does not destroy
us.. as Jesus also teaches…
Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the land.
And, we are blessed when we are a little
humble or humbled by an obstacle, a lack of success, a failure.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
We are not always in the right, we may
have to hunger for it or work for this daily bread, to satisfy our hunger.
[__09__] Today, centuries after his Passion, Death
and Resurrection, Jesus is still with us.
Yes, he is our elder brother still speaking
to us, telling us , what it was like, “when he was our age.”
When he was our age, though was
anointed by God as the Messiah, he endured great pain and suffering and did
this not for his own glory or to prove his own worth, but to prove our worth, our
value.
Isn’t this true of our parents, our
teachers, our coaches, our grandparents, they did things for us not to prove
their value but to prove our value.
To be Christlike is not only to
recognize my value but the value in the other person.
In a similar way, when we forgive
someone, we do this not to show how magnanimous or intelligent or generous we
are or great we are, but to show the greatness of the other person.
And … blessed are the merciful for
they will be shown mercy.
[__10__] [__fin__]
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