Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 1

In today’s Gospel, we just heard the very beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This introduction is, of course, known as the Beatitudes.  Beatitude is a word best translated as “blessed” or “supremely happy”. If I’m honest, the Beatitudes have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I mean I know them. I can recite them. But what do they actually mean – above all, practically speaking? Perhaps some of you can identify, if you’re really honest with yourselves too! But over time, what I’ve come to learn about the Beatitudes from what Scripture repeatedly teaches us – God’s ways are not man’s ways. His ways are so far above our ways as human beings. And many times, because of our limited viewpoint, we interpret things only on a natural level – we are human beings after all! But being human doesn’t mean that we’re just matter – our bodies. We are spiritual as well. We have souls – that part of us that is created in God’s image and likeness, and includes our personalities, our wills, our emotions – and that houses that inner sanctuary where God’s very Spirit dwells within us. What this means is that everything in life is not merely reducible to the material world. And when we choose with God’s grace, we can actually see things in a much fuller way – God’s way!

Thus enters the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes take natural circumstances and breathe supernatural purpose into them that gives the natural reality a whole new meaning. Take the reality like mourning. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Certainly we would say in the natural that we are hardly supremely happy or blessed when we are mourning. We’re sad, even grief-stricken. But again, if we see only with our natural eyes, that’s all we can see. According to God’s plan however, when we mourn, we’re in a place of need by which God, loved ones, even strangers can comfort us. If we were so self-sufficient that we didn’t need anyone, how much would we be missing out on the love and compassion of others that comes to us when they, for example, comfort us in our mourning!

Again, this is the whole point of the Beatitudes – to challenge us to see things from God’s perspective. God is not saying He will take away our mourning. We need to experience that, as painful as it can be. But He does provide for us in that very mourning which transcends it and brings forth good from that which is not good. In fact, I have come to see the Beatitudes, in a way, as fulfilling my favorite Scripture passage – Romans 8:28: “God works all things for good for those who love Him…” God is good. And therefore, He can and will bring forth good from that which is not good when we are willing to love Him and accept His purpose or plan. Then we can truly be blessed by Him, whereas otherwise, we would merely be stuck naturally in the mourning.

Above all, the first and last Beatitude make this point even more – because they are the “bookends” that highlight what is most important – “the Kingdom of God.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” and “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, you and I were not created just for the 70, 80, or 90 years we get on this earth – again, as if we were just in the natural. But we were created for eternal communion with our Father forever in the glory of heaven. How often do we lose sight of this ultimate truth, and just live as if this life were it!

However, when persecution or trial comes along, or we get a real taste of how we utterly just can’t do life all ourselves – such realities shake us to be open to seeing things from God’s perspective.  We come to see how spiritually impoverished we are. We come to really understand that we cannot save ourselves – that we desperately need God’s mercy and grace to lead us safely through the perils of this life to our eternal home in heaven.  That needing God just on Sundays in church just will not do!

And so, my brothers and sisters, may God comfort and strengthen us this week with the grace He promises us in the Beatitudes. God bless you.

(Father Marcoe is the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Gettysburg.)

By Father Timothy D. Marcoe, Special to The Witness