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January 29, 2023 / 4th Sunday ● Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13 ● Psalm 146 ● 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ● Matthew 5:1-12a ●
Title: A Different World
[__01__] Many children, adolescents and young people live
in a “different world” from that in which their parents grew up. Do you live in
a different world from that of your parents?
This is one way we use the term a
“different world”. And even parents and
children living in the same house may think – at times – they are in “different
worlds” or on “different planets.”
This Sunday, we read the Beatitudes
– the words of Jesus from Matthew Ch. 5. Perhaps, you have the read the
Beatitudes a few times or many times. Either way, hearing these words, you may
wonder – are the ideas in the Beatitudes from some other world or worldview?
The Beatitudes challenge us to
consider how view the challenges we face.
I’d like to touch on 3 of Beatitudes
and also relate this to Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians.
Paul is also thinking about a
“different world” than many Corinthians are.
[__02__] POVERTY. This is just a family, everyday
example. When I was younger, my parents
would periodically take my brothers, sister and me in the car to visit my
grandmother and grandfather, at their apartment in the Bronx, on Bruckner
Boulevard. This was same apartment where my father and his 2 brothers grew up.
The entire apartment consisted of 2
small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, an entryway where the table was, a kitchen and
living room. It was small. But you might protest and say, hey, padre, that is a
2 BR apartment. I have been in 2 BR apartments,
lived in 2 BR apartments larger than this. There was also exactly one closet
and one bathroom for 5 people.
As a kid visiting my grandparents, I
found their apartment to be very cozy and comfortable, but I did not want to
move in with them. I lived in a different world in the NJ suburbs.
Often, we think of poverty in
material terms and as something we must escape from or conquer or move away
from.
The message, however, of the
Beatitudes and of Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians is not that
poverty is something we grow out of or move out of. We would be better off
growing into and moving toward poverty and simplicity as virtues.
This is a different world.
[__03_] Corinth is a different world. In the New Testament and in Church history,
Corinth is singled out as a place where Paul’s messages of simplicity and
adherence to the Gospel were controversial, sometimes unwelcome.
Corinth is a port city in Greece,
where many boats docked and departed, a port city on the Mediterranean Sea and
Corinth was also known as a place of luxury and prestige.
This “luxury image” of “Corinthian” has
lasted for many centuries. This was picked
up on by the a car manufacturer – Chrysler – stating in the 1970’s that the comfy back seats and front seats were
made of “Corinthian leather”, It was not real leather, it was just all
marketing.
There is also something known as the
Corinthian column or Corinthian pillar in architecture. I placed an example of 2 columns or pillars
on the altar here on which 2 Books of the Gospels are placed. They not actually
Corinthian columns, but simpler in style.
Of all the ancient pillars, the
Corinthian column or pillar – seen outside of Greek temples or major buildings,
the Corinthian column was the most detailed and decorative.
But, Paul was saying to his people
and to you and me…do not strive be just superficially good or ornate, like
Corinthian leather or the Corinthian column.
Paul was saying, rejoice and be glad
that you were not “wise by human standards ..or powerful … or of noble
birth [because] God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God
chose the weak of the world to shame the strong. (1
Corinthians 1:26-27)
So, in other words, he’s telling the
Corinthians and you and me not to be discouraged about our disadvantages or
lack of name-brand clothing. This is a different world.
[__04__] By reading and reflecting on the Beatitudes,
we can understand what the “different world” we are called to inhabit as Jesus’
followers.
Jesus also wants us to understand
the blessing of simplicity and poverty. Because we do not think of poverty as a
blessing. In the life of the Church and especially for the members of religious
orders – the Sisters of Charity, Jesuits, Franciscans -- poverty is part of
their explicit vows, their promises, their virtues.
However, we are all “poor” or “impoverished”
in some way.
One nice thing about visiting my grandparents
in the Bronx in their apartment – which I perceived as small – was that we were
never far apart. And living a simple life is meant to help us to draw closer to
God and to each other. It’s a different world.
What are some of these blessings – These are
blessings that unite us to God and to each other in the Church.
1st. The Blessing of Mourning
It is a blessing
to mourn. The “mourning” may not necessarily help me to reclaim exactly what I
have lost or said good-bye to, or to bring someone back to life, but the
rituals and reflections of mourning will
help me to look forward to the possibility of a heavenly reunion and heavenly
reward and to give thanks for the past.
When
we gather in church for a Funeral Mass, it is often a time to recognize and
unleash a flood of emotions, grief, sorrow. But it also a time to recognize
that the deceased person I care for– or you love – belongs also to God who
created the person. In mourning, we truly render unto God what belongs to God.
(Gospel reference). Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
2nd. The Blessing of Mercy
We pray
these words frequently – forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us. This refers to the
blessing of mercy.
But, is my distribution of mercy sometimes
more said than done? Have I not, from time to time, re-told something from the
past about something that went wrong or a wrong done to me – that I am
apparently “over”, but re-told it to emphasize the person or persons who caused
me difficulty and how I was wronged or injured?
This “mercy” beatitude reminds me not to
live as a “victim” – digging up the past -- but to recognize that I can
have – we can have – victory – through Jesus’ sacrifice.
The Beatitudes come to us as the beginning of
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, starting at Mattthew-Gospel Chapter 5, verse 1.
Also, the Sermon on the Mount, presents Jesus
as the new “Moses” who had gone up the mountain of Mount Sinai to receive the
law and 10 Commandments.
Jesus is on a new mountain. Also, while,
Moses communicated the law and commandments by bring the law down to the lower
altitude of the people …. Jesus speaks
from the mountain,
Jesus does not come down, he invites us
UPWARD., to take the high road, even when it is difficulty to recognize the
blessings of poverty, mourning, mercy, The Beatitudes are also meant to prepare
us for eternal life.
This Sunday, there is a similar message about
the virtue and simplicity come from God, as we read, of the different world we
are called to inhabit and build … , God chose
the lowly and despised of this world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to
nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesu, who became for us wisdom from
God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that as it is
written: Whoever boasts, should boast in
the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:27-31) [__end__ ]
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