ZEPH 2:3, 3:12-13;I COR 1:26-31;Gosple: MT 5:1-12
“Happiness is that which all men seek.” says the great philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle also observes that everything people do twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, is what they believe will bring them happiness in one form or another. But the problem is that what people think will bring them happiness does not in fact always bring them true and lasting happiness. Think of the drunkard who believes that happiness is found in the beer bottle. One bottle too much and he is driving home, runs a red light, hits a car and wakes up the following morning in a hospital with plaster and stitches all over his body. Then it begins to dawn on him that the happiness promised by alcohol may be too short-lived. Or take the man who frequents the casino to deal excitement. By the end of the month he finds that his account is in the red and that he can no longer pay his house rent. Creditors go after him until he loses his house and his car. Then it dawns on him that the happiness promised by the casino is fake. So Aristotle says that the ethical person is the person who knows and does what can truly bring them not just excitement or pleasure but true and lasting happiness.
Another word for true and lasting happiness is “blessedness” or “beatitude.” In today’s gospel, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount shows that he really wants his followers to have true and lasting happiness, the happiness that the world and everything in it cannot give. This state of blessedness is what Jesus calls being in the “kingdom of heaven”. The eight beatitudes we have in today’s gospel constitute a road map for anyone who seeks to attain this happiness of the kingdom. The Beatitudes are as fundamental for Christ's teaching as the Ten Commandments were for Moses' teaching. The Sermon on the Mount is the heart of the Gospel, and the Beatitudes are the heart of the Sermon on the Mount.
Why does Jesus deem it necessary to establish these guideposts to the kingdom right from the very first teaching that he gives to the disciples? It is because of the importance of this teaching. Everybody seeks happiness. But often we look for it in the wrong places. Ask people around you what makes people happy and compare the answers you get with the answers Jesus gives. The world has its own idea of happiness. If a committee were set up to draw up the beatitudes, we would most probably end up with a list very different from that which Jesus gives us today.
Where Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” they would say “Blessed are the rich.” Where Jesus says “Blessed are those who mourn” they would say “Blessed are those having fun.” Where Jesus says “Blessed are the meek” they would say “Blessed are the smart.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” they would say “Blessed are those who wine and dine.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful” they would say “Blessed are the powerful.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart” they would say “Blessed are the slim in body.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers” they would say “Blessed are the news makers.” And where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” they would say “Blessed are those who can afford the best lawyers.”
We see that the values prescribed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are in fact counter-cultural. We cannot accept these teachings of Jesus and at the same time accept all the values of the society in which we live. Of course, Jesus does not demand that we abandon the world. But he does demand that we put God first in our lives because only God can guarantee the true happiness and peace that our hearts long for. Nothing in the world can give this peace, and nothing in the world can take it away.
The poor in spirit and those who suffer persecution gracefully realize that they are not the center of the universe - God is. The clean of heart realizes that other people don't exist just for the sake of his pleasure. The peace maker is concerned about the needs and problems of others. The merciful is concerned about the suffering of others. The mournful is concerned about the damage his sin does to the Church, the world, and other people. The meek cares more about getting things done than getting credit for doing things. Those who hunger for righteousness realize that their life has a higher purpose, that it's part of a bigger story. Underlying all the Beatitudes is this fundamental attitude that puts God and others ahead of self. It looks out at the world instead of staring in, fixated on self. This is humility,
the bedrock of basic human maturity. God loves this humility, because it opens the soul to receive his gifts. When we make the Beatitudes as a sort of checklist for us, we could see the areas we need to improve in.
William Barclay says this verse means, "Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God. If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put his whole trust in God. And he will become completely detached from things, for he will know that things have not got in them happiness or security; and he will become completely attached to God, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and strength.
The man who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things mean nothing, and that God means everything."
These beatitudes tell us that we find happiness in finding God. “Seek the Lord,” begins the first reading at today’s Mass. “Finding God” is not like finding a lost object. God is not lost. We are lost. So to find God is to find oneself. Or more correctly, it is to be found by God. The greatest seekers after God have known this. St Augustine (5th century) gave it one of its most famous expressions. “Late have I loved you, O beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I fell upon those lovely things of your creation. You were with me but I was not with you….”
The Eight Beatitudes do not describe eight different people such that we need to ask which of the eight suits us personally. No, they are eight different snapshots taken from different angles of the same godly person. The question for us today, therefore, is this: “Do we live our lives following the values of the world as a way of attaining happiness or do we live by the teachings of Jesus. If you live by the teachings of Jesus, then rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
FEAST OF EPIPHANY
Mathew 2:1-12 (Visit of the Magi)
We continue the celebration of Christmas with the celebration of the Solemnity of the Epiphany. This is one of the most important celebrations of the Church year. The Feast of the Epiphany is the oldest in the Liturgical Calendar after Easter and Pentecost and Epiphany was celebrated long before even Christmas itself came to be regarded as a feast. Greek Orthodox churches place a greater emphasis on the Epiphany than on the Nativity.
The word Epiphany literally means manifestation and refers to the appearance or making known of Christ. Of course, in the beginning the feast was about the several manifestations of Christ: his first coming into the world, his being made known to the Shepherds, his manifestation to the Wise Men from the East, and it included even the Father announcing who he was at his Baptism by John, as well as the demonstration of his power in his First Miracle at the Marriage Feast of Cana. But as the Feast of Christmas and the other feasts gradually came to be separated over time, the Epiphany centred on the manifestation of Christ to the Magi —in other words to the Gentiles.
The three wise men - kings! traditionally known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh! What courage and perseverance those strangers showed, to brave the dangers of travel, skepticism, and political intrigue. But they found what they were looking for. That star gave trustworthy guidance and now triumphantly shone as guard over the lowly dwelling wherein rested the child who possessed all meaning. They fell to their knees in homage, for their learning had made them humble, and their wisdom led them to recognize the Divine in the fragile flesh of a child.
In the story of the Magi, Matthew wants us to recognize in Jesus the new Solomon, whose reputation for wisdom was legendary. He too received a visitor from the East, the Queen of Sheba, who was said to have been “breathless” as she marveled at his wisdom and wealth (1 Kings 10:1-13).
This Epiphany story is, therefore, a celebration of the wisdom represented by Jesus--in his person and in his message. It is an unpretentious wisdom, because it is embodied in a tiny child, but it is in fact the only wisdom that will ultimately survive.
Jesus offers a radically different kind of wisdom, which declares that all forms of power must be in the service of love and that true success should be measured in terms of who has been liberated by unselfish love from the bondage of fear, guilt, low self-esteem and the like. Our real power is our freedom, and it is very tempting to use that freedom to dominate and control others.
True wisdom consists in letting God guide us. The magi let God lead them. And their journey was not merely a journey by land but it was also a journey of faith. And God revealed himself to them in the person of the Child Jesus.
In one way or another the same thing has happened to each one of us. God leads us on a journey of faith and he reveals himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. But this doesn’t just happen once. It happens again and again in our lives. There are a whole series of Epiphanies awaiting us if we only co-operate with God and let him lead us.
Some times what we started off as certainty and firmness of faith can with the vicissitudes of life easily fade away into disinterest and laxity. The magi also lost the star when they entered the palace. What we need then is re-conversion, what we need to do is to look for that star once more.
Hidden under one form or another there is always a star glittering out there in the darkness. If we constantly look for that star and follow where God leads us again and again we will encounter Christ in all sorts of different disguises until one day we meet him face to face and the door is ultimately opened for us to live with him forever.
Why did Herod try to destroy Jesus while the Magi, the wise kings worshipped him? The difference can be summed up in one word: humility. Herod lacked humility; the Magi had it. We don't know what happened to the Magi, but we do know where Herod's lack of humility landed him.
He spent his life trying to keep everything under his control. He became a very suspicious man: he ended up murdering his own wife and three of his sons, because he thought they were plotting against him. In fact, his whole life was a series of violent, horrible crimes. His tyrannical fear of losing control eventually made him universally hated, even by his closest collaborators. As he lay dying, he ordered a thousand of his best servants and ministers to be led into a stadium and slaughtered, because he wanted to be sure there was mourning and sadness in his kingdom upon his death.
Joseph Stalin, the equally bloody tyrant of early Soviet Russia, followed a similar path. He climbed the ladder of success by lying, double-crossing, and murdering. And once he had reached the top, he systematically eliminated all potential rivals. But soon he began to think everyone was a potential rival. He sent his best friends to concentration camps in Siberia. He became so suspicious of plots against him that he slept in a different corner of his house every night. He too died a fearful, miserable, half-crazed man.
These are extreme cases. But they show us the truth: you and I are not God. God is God. We are not meant to control everything; we are meant to humbly follow Christ, to trust him, to kneel before him, like the Magi, and say with our lives, "Thy will be done, not mine; thy Kingdom come; not mine." Only then will our lives become as fulfilling as we know they should be.
The Wise Men offer gifts to Jesus because they recognize that the humble wisdom of Jesus eclipses all forms of merely human wisdom.
We are called to live in such a way that our Christianity shines through every aspect of our lives. We come before the Lord to worship Him in Word and Eucharist. We serve the Lord’s presence in others, and reach out to those who have needs by working in the various ministries of our parish .
Our Christianity was not given to us to be kept hidden. Our faith is a gift we are entrusted with for others. Actually, there is no such thing as a secret Christian. Christ was manifested to all people. There is no secret involved. We should be showoffs for the Lord. The feast of Epiphany is God's work of Gospel globalization revealing his Son to all peoples of all nations and races. God needs modern "stars" that will bring our sisters and brothers to Christ, Savior of all peoples and nations. By the good example of our lives let’s be the "magi" for our world today.
We continue the celebration of Christmas with the celebration of the Solemnity of the Epiphany. This is one of the most important celebrations of the Church year. The Feast of the Epiphany is the oldest in the Liturgical Calendar after Easter and Pentecost and Epiphany was celebrated long before even Christmas itself came to be regarded as a feast. Greek Orthodox churches place a greater emphasis on the Epiphany than on the Nativity.
The word Epiphany literally means manifestation and refers to the appearance or making known of Christ. Of course, in the beginning the feast was about the several manifestations of Christ: his first coming into the world, his being made known to the Shepherds, his manifestation to the Wise Men from the East, and it included even the Father announcing who he was at his Baptism by John, as well as the demonstration of his power in his First Miracle at the Marriage Feast of Cana. But as the Feast of Christmas and the other feasts gradually came to be separated over time, the Epiphany centred on the manifestation of Christ to the Magi —in other words to the Gentiles.
The three wise men - kings! traditionally known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh! What courage and perseverance those strangers showed, to brave the dangers of travel, skepticism, and political intrigue. But they found what they were looking for. That star gave trustworthy guidance and now triumphantly shone as guard over the lowly dwelling wherein rested the child who possessed all meaning. They fell to their knees in homage, for their learning had made them humble, and their wisdom led them to recognize the Divine in the fragile flesh of a child.
In the story of the Magi, Matthew wants us to recognize in Jesus the new Solomon, whose reputation for wisdom was legendary. He too received a visitor from the East, the Queen of Sheba, who was said to have been “breathless” as she marveled at his wisdom and wealth (1 Kings 10:1-13).
This Epiphany story is, therefore, a celebration of the wisdom represented by Jesus--in his person and in his message. It is an unpretentious wisdom, because it is embodied in a tiny child, but it is in fact the only wisdom that will ultimately survive.
Jesus offers a radically different kind of wisdom, which declares that all forms of power must be in the service of love and that true success should be measured in terms of who has been liberated by unselfish love from the bondage of fear, guilt, low self-esteem and the like. Our real power is our freedom, and it is very tempting to use that freedom to dominate and control others.
True wisdom consists in letting God guide us. The magi let God lead them. And their journey was not merely a journey by land but it was also a journey of faith. And God revealed himself to them in the person of the Child Jesus.
In one way or another the same thing has happened to each one of us. God leads us on a journey of faith and he reveals himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. But this doesn’t just happen once. It happens again and again in our lives. There are a whole series of Epiphanies awaiting us if we only co-operate with God and let him lead us.
Some times what we started off as certainty and firmness of faith can with the vicissitudes of life easily fade away into disinterest and laxity. The magi also lost the star when they entered the palace. What we need then is re-conversion, what we need to do is to look for that star once more.
Hidden under one form or another there is always a star glittering out there in the darkness. If we constantly look for that star and follow where God leads us again and again we will encounter Christ in all sorts of different disguises until one day we meet him face to face and the door is ultimately opened for us to live with him forever.
Why did Herod try to destroy Jesus while the Magi, the wise kings worshipped him? The difference can be summed up in one word: humility. Herod lacked humility; the Magi had it. We don't know what happened to the Magi, but we do know where Herod's lack of humility landed him.
He spent his life trying to keep everything under his control. He became a very suspicious man: he ended up murdering his own wife and three of his sons, because he thought they were plotting against him. In fact, his whole life was a series of violent, horrible crimes. His tyrannical fear of losing control eventually made him universally hated, even by his closest collaborators. As he lay dying, he ordered a thousand of his best servants and ministers to be led into a stadium and slaughtered, because he wanted to be sure there was mourning and sadness in his kingdom upon his death.
Joseph Stalin, the equally bloody tyrant of early Soviet Russia, followed a similar path. He climbed the ladder of success by lying, double-crossing, and murdering. And once he had reached the top, he systematically eliminated all potential rivals. But soon he began to think everyone was a potential rival. He sent his best friends to concentration camps in Siberia. He became so suspicious of plots against him that he slept in a different corner of his house every night. He too died a fearful, miserable, half-crazed man.
These are extreme cases. But they show us the truth: you and I are not God. God is God. We are not meant to control everything; we are meant to humbly follow Christ, to trust him, to kneel before him, like the Magi, and say with our lives, "Thy will be done, not mine; thy Kingdom come; not mine." Only then will our lives become as fulfilling as we know they should be.
The Wise Men offer gifts to Jesus because they recognize that the humble wisdom of Jesus eclipses all forms of merely human wisdom.
We are called to live in such a way that our Christianity shines through every aspect of our lives. We come before the Lord to worship Him in Word and Eucharist. We serve the Lord’s presence in others, and reach out to those who have needs by working in the various ministries of our parish .
Our Christianity was not given to us to be kept hidden. Our faith is a gift we are entrusted with for others. Actually, there is no such thing as a secret Christian. Christ was manifested to all people. There is no secret involved. We should be showoffs for the Lord. The feast of Epiphany is God's work of Gospel globalization revealing his Son to all peoples of all nations and races. God needs modern "stars" that will bring our sisters and brothers to Christ, Savior of all peoples and nations. By the good example of our lives let’s be the "magi" for our world today.
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