Gospel Reading: Mt 5:1-12a
When he saw the crowds, Jesus went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Reflection
BLESSED ARE THE HUMBLE
The Beatitudes begin Jesus’ series of teachings in Matthew that are called the Sermon on the Mount. In these beatitudes, Jesus declares blessed people whom the world considers unfortunate: those who are poor, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are clean of heart, who are peacemakers, and who are insulted and persecuted because of Jesus. Jesus has come to inaugurate a new order – the Kingdom of God. The Beatitudes set out the qualities of persons who live in this Kingdom or new world that is in harmony with God.
Volumes have been written on the Beatitudes. One key for understanding them, however, is suggested by today’s First and Second Readings: humility. Zephaniah exhorts the humble of the earth to seek the Lord, observe his law, and seek justice and humility so that they will be sheltered on the day the Lord brings a new order into being. The prophet speaks of God’s leaving a remnant of the humble and lowly in the midst of Israel.
This remnant will be a people living in harmony with God before the new order fully appears. Paul says that not many of the early Christians are wise, powerful, or of noble birth. And he explains that the Church is made up of such people because “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something” (1 Cor 1:27-28).
By human standards, Christians are not generally recognized as blessed, but as members of the Church, they have been blessed by God. By choosing those who count for nothing to be the members of the Church, God shows that the values of this world are not the values of God. We sometimes think of humility as the acknowledgment that we are not good at anything or the sense that we are worthless.
Instead, true humility has to do with the way in which we look at ourselves in relationship to the rest of reality. It tells us to look at the world from God’s perspective which, as Genesis says, is that all that God created is good and that people are the crown of that good creation. Humility recognizes the dignity of humanity and goodness of creation. It helps us recognize our own God-given dignity and value and the equal dignity and value of everyone else. Indeed, the humble are truly blessed!
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
First Reading: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The light is Jesus, passionately proclaiming the Word of God, and the people once in darkness are now passionately listening to this rabbi from Galilee. His fellow rabbis teach that the most sacred activity is not worship or charity work, but the study of the Torah. They have a passion for the Word of God. How can they keep God’s Word if they do not know it? Let us also learn from the Psalmist, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked… the law of the Lord is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:1-2). If we have a passion for the Word of God, we will surely see the light, and our nation will become great.