God Bless

Two teenage boys accompanied their father to the Christmas Eve celebration of the Mass at their parish. When they reached the church, there was a huge crowd of people outside. They could not even get near the door. Frustrated, the two teenage boys looked over at their father and said, "Oh, c'mon Dad. This is ridiculous. Wouldn't we be better off to go downtown and just serve the homeless instead of standing here, watching other people pray?"

It is an interesting question if you think about it and how would you genuinely answer? I know that the first instinct would be to say both. It is both, coming to church and reaching out to others in need. But what if you were given a choice? What if your teenage son or daughter asked you that question: To serve the homeless and the needy or go to church? What would your answer be? To serve the needy? Or go to Church? I know one wants to say both. In reality, if one has to choose, then I suspect we may end up saying serving. Living out the Word is the single most important thing -not that we ever want to have to make a choice.

That is the exact issue the Prophet Zephaniah tries to address us today. He is trying to inspire these people, who are no longer living the word, but they still give words of worship. They no longer have any fire in their belly, and he tries to inspire them and says, 'Look, I am going to take a remnant from you, some small part of you, will come and follow the word of God, and then others in future generations will know that there is a God of mercy. There is only one God, the Lord of Hosts.'

It is a similar issue that Paul addresses in his letter to the Corinthians -the people get carried away with the oratory skills of Apollos and instead he says, 'Look, the message is always about Christ.' It does not make any difference about where you come from, or what you used to do. We are all called to live out the word of God in our life. It is always about Christ, not about those wonderful words we might hear. It is about the Word we live our daily life.

Of course in today's scripture from the gospel of Matthew, we hear the beginning of the great Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. And Jesus lays out very clear mandates about what we are called to do. We are blessed if we do all the things that he asks us. These are hard words to hear. How is poverty a good thing, or sorrow a good thing? These do not seem to be good things in and of themselves. And, I do not think they are good things in and of themselves, but it is what happens to us when we are in those places that bring about the blessedness.

You have to understand that this was a real reversal of roles. In Jesus' time, anyone who was healthy or wealthy was considered to be blessed by God; those who were poor, unhealthy or sick in any way were considered in some way to be cursed by God. That was the understanding at the time. Then along comes Jesus, and he says, no. He turns it is upside down. He turns it around and says blessed are the poor; blessed are the sorrowful; blessed are those who are meek and humble. The difference is that when we are in a place of poverty in spirit or in actual poverty, then we have room for God. When we are sick, we tend to turn to God. When we are humble, we make room for God in our hearts. That is the challenge. These things create in us a space for God to be and when all our needs are met, when we are healthy, we often forget about our God. And that is why there is a real reversal here.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a great German theologian, priest and pastor, was executed by the Nazis for his Christian beliefs. He wrote that the main turning point in his discipleship was his reflection on this very passage. He found it difficult and struggled over this passage from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Could it be possible that our God has asked us to live these radical beatitudes in our life, or are these just some high-flying goals that really no one can attain to? Out of his reflections on this very passage, Bonhoeffer concluded that the Lord really is calling us to live this poverty, to live this version of discipleship. He maintains this because Christ lived it himself.

Christ was the one who was poor in spirit; Christ was the one who was humble; Christ was the one who was a peacemaker. Christ was the one who lived every one of those beatitudes and we are called to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. If we are to be followers of Christ, then we are called to follow in his footsteps of being humble, being poor in spirit Or as Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, to make room in our heart for God, to be poor in spirit, not because we want poverty, but because we want to make room in our heart for God. So, for those who are poor, we have some empathy; to make room in our hearts for sorrow so that those who are in pain and in sorrow, we can have empathy for; to make room in our hearts for meekness and humility so that those who are humble and meek, we can have empathy with, and grow to be like them.

Today the First Communion children are welcomed and we promise to show them the footsteps of Christ. It is all of us who promise: parents, godparents and community alike -that we will model in our actions, not just in our words. That our footsteps will follow in the footsteps of Christ.

So, today, we do not need to make a choice between praying or acting out our faith, but instead we must now do what we pray here; we must go out of here is to make sure we walk in the footsteps of Christ, to ensure that we act like Christ to others, to be poor in spirit, to be humble, to be sorrowful so that we can identify with those who are in those places, to leave room in our heart for God. Today, we choose not only to worship in word, but we also choose to walk in the footsteps of Christ and make room for God in our hearts.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1
Zep 2:3; 3:12-13

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth,
who have observed his law;
seek justice, seek humility;
perhaps you may be sheltered
on the day of the LORD's anger.

But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies;
nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue;
they shall pasture and couch their flocks
with none to disturb them.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

R. (Mt 5:3) Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II
1 Cor 1:26-31

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, 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,
so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,
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."

Gospel
Mt 5:1-12a

When Jesus saw the crowds, he 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."

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