4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sr Nuala Cotter

The Beatitudes serve as a kind of introduction to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 4:23-7:29). This set of teachings is the first of the five great discourses that structure the book ; it follows immediately after Jesus’ calling of his disciples and their first round of activity in Galilee, where he’s been teaching, proclaiming the Kingdom, and curing "every disease and illness among the people." It’s interesting to note that 4:24 tells us that "his fame spread to all of Syria" — pagan territory, as was the Decapolis, also mentioned in this section. So Jesus is already speaking not only to Jews but also to Gentiles in Matthew’s account. And of course, most importantly, he is speaking to and moving among those who need his help desperately : "all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics" (v. 24).

 

Activity like that doesn’t remain unnoticed for long ; great numbers of people are drawn to him, whether looking for a cure or just looking to see something extraordinary happen. And Jesus, ever the teacher as well as the physician, recognizes a "teachable moment" and so includes the crowd in this first instruction.

 

Many critics have seen the Beatitudes as a series of "Pie in the Sky When you Die" promises : suffer now, enjoy later. But it’s interesting to note that the word that would have been spoken by Jesus was not the Greek "makarios" (the passive blessed), but rather "ashrei" or "tovahoun" both of which mean blessed and "wake up" or "get up." In Judaism blessings were considered both a boon and a call, and this call was implicit in the Aramaic. As such, the beatitudes could be seen as a call to action.

 

If we thought about them in that way, what would that mean for us ? How might we hear "Blessed are the poor in spirit" or "Blessed are the meek" if the blessing invited us to respond to a call ? Perhaps it’s less difficult to imagine with "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness" or "Blessed are the peacemakers," but it’s worth keeping the notion in mind for all eight. Jesus blesses those who experience one or more of these situations – as he calls us all to respond in some way to these situations.

 

The other readings might help us a little bit here : we notice that all of them connect us in one way or another with the poor. They are the people whom the Bible points to again and again as special to God. Perhaps their poverty renders them more able to recognize their need of God, something so very difficult for those of us who are not poor, at least not materially so. The question has to come up : where (if anywhere) do we stand with God ? Maybe the Beatitudes invite us to look at our lives and realize that possessions or lack of possessions are not what makes us rich or poor. Perhaps the Beatitudes point to our being creatures, always in need of God’s love and mercy. Being creatures, however, doesn’t let us off the hook ; far from it ! While we may be poor or in mourning involuntarily, we still have to live those experiences in faith. And some things call us to act and bestir ourselves : to "hunger and thirst for justice," to be "peacemakers," to willingly "suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness." But we need to remember that even as we live out these things or act on them in some way, it’s not to "earn" anything – whether that thing is "the kingdom of heaven" or to be called "children of God" or whatever "pie in the sky" we might desire. Rather, we live them because, as Jesus’ whole life shows us, God loves us and invites our love in return. That’s the blessing from which all the other blessings flow, as the old hymn reminds us. Praise God !