The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
Reading 1:
ZEP 2:3; 3:12-13
Response: Psalm 146
Reading 2:
1 COR 1: 26-31
Gospel: MT 5: 1-12A
In the Gospel of Matthew, The Beatitudes which Jesus proclaim in the Sermon on the Mount seem rather strange at first glance. For sure, they are challenging and counter-cultural. Why would one want to be poor, or meek, or persecuted?
It is not until we realize that Jesus is the embodiment of all the virtues that are presented in The Beatitudes that we recognize the beauty they produce. The great Swiss “theologian of beauty,” Hans Urs Von Balthasar, proclaims Catholic Christianity in terms of love expressed as beauty, goodness and truth. He was influenced by the Church Fathers and St. Ignatius Loyola who understood the act of faith as rooted not in reason but in love.
Jesus is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15). Therefore, his beauty surpasses any worldly beauty. How do the tenets of the beatitudes produce beauty?
Let us look closely at Jesus, as described by the late Father Balthasar himself in his book: Light of the Word, p. 43.
What Jesus says... is the pure expression of his most
personal mission and destiny. He is the one who has
become poor for our sake, weeps over Jerusalem.
He is the nonviolent one against whom all the world’s
violence rages and is shattered. He is the one who
hungers and thirsts for God’s justice, who reveals and
accomplishes God's compassion on earth. He has the
pure heart that always sees the Father; he is, as Paul
says, “our peace” by virtue of having destroyed enmity
with his crucified body (Eph 2:14-17). He is the one
who is persecuted by the entire world because he has
incarnated God's righteousness. In all of these he is the
blessed [happy] one because he perfectly incarnates and
mediates the salvation God intends for the world.
In other words, Jesus provides a living example of The Beatitudes that He shares with all of us in this Gospel reading. Within these, Jesus offers us the keys to beauty and peace. He asks us to follow His example. He sends us His peace, but cautions us that the peace He gives is not the kind the world gives. It is a deeper, more lasting peace. Let us be thankful for his abiding presence and His precious gifts.
En el Evangelio de Mateo, las Bienaventuranzas que Jesús proclama en el Sermón del Monte parecen bastante extrañas a primera vista. Por supuesto, son desafiantes y contra-culturales. ¿Por qué querríamos ser pobres, o mansos, o perseguidos?
No es hasta que nos damos cuenta de que Jesús es la encarnación de todas las virtudes que se presentan en las Bienaventuranzas que reconocemos la belleza que producen. El gran “teólogo suizo de la belleza”, Hans Urs Von Balthasar, proclama el cristianismo católico en términos de amor expresado como belleza, bondad y verdad. Fue influenciado por los Padres de la Iglesia y por San Ignacio Loyola quienes entendieron el acto de fe como arraigado no en la razón sino en el amor.
Jesús es “la imagen del Dios invisible” (Colosenses 1:15). Por lo tanto, su belleza supera cualquier belleza mundana. ¿Cómo los principios de las bienaventuranzas producen belleza?
Miremos de cerca a Jesús, como lo describe el difunto Padre Balthasar en su libro: Luz de la Palabra, pág. 43.
Lo que Jesús dice ... es la expresión pura de su
Misión personal y destino. Él es el que tiene
Pobreza por nosotros, llora sobre Jerusalén.
Él es el no violento contra el cual todo el mundo
La violencia rabia y se rompe. Él es el que
Hombre y sed de justicia de Dios, que revela y
Logra la compasión de Dios en la tierra. Él tiene el
Corazón puro que siempre ve al Padre; Él es, como Pablo
Dice, "nuestra paz" en virtud de haber destruido la enemistad
Con su cuerpo crucificado (Ef 2: 14-17). Él es el indicado
Perseguido por el mundo entero porque ha
Encarnó la justicia de Dios. En todos ellos es el
Bendito [feliz] porque él perfectamente encarna y
Media la salvación que Dios tiene para el mundo.
En otras palabras, Jesús es un ejemplo vivo de las Bienaventuranzas que Él comparte con todos nosotros en esta lectura del Evangelio. Dentro de éstos, Jesús nos ofrece las llaves de la belleza y la paz. Él nos pide que sigamos Su ejemplo. Él nos envía su paz, pero nos advierte que la paz que da no es la clase que el mundo da. Es una paz más profunda y duradera. Déjenos estar agradecidos por su presencia permanente y Sus dones preciosos.
It is not until we realize that Jesus is the embodiment of all the virtues that are presented in The Beatitudes that we recognize the beauty they produce. The great Swiss “theologian of beauty,” Hans Urs Von Balthasar, proclaims Catholic Christianity in terms of love expressed as beauty, goodness and truth. He was influenced by the Church Fathers and St. Ignatius Loyola who understood the act of faith as rooted not in reason but in love.
Jesus is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15). Therefore, his beauty surpasses any worldly beauty. How do the tenets of the beatitudes produce beauty?
Let us look closely at Jesus, as described by the late Father Balthasar himself in his book: Light of the Word, p. 43.
What Jesus says... is the pure expression of his most
personal mission and destiny. He is the one who has
become poor for our sake, weeps over Jerusalem.
He is the nonviolent one against whom all the world’s
violence rages and is shattered. He is the one who
hungers and thirsts for God’s justice, who reveals and
accomplishes God's compassion on earth. He has the
pure heart that always sees the Father; he is, as Paul
says, “our peace” by virtue of having destroyed enmity
with his crucified body (Eph 2:14-17). He is the one
who is persecuted by the entire world because he has
incarnated God's righteousness. In all of these he is the
blessed [happy] one because he perfectly incarnates and
mediates the salvation God intends for the world.
In other words, Jesus provides a living example of The Beatitudes that He shares with all of us in this Gospel reading. Within these, Jesus offers us the keys to beauty and peace. He asks us to follow His example. He sends us His peace, but cautions us that the peace He gives is not the kind the world gives. It is a deeper, more lasting peace. Let us be thankful for his abiding presence and His precious gifts.
Spanish Translation of Reflection Above...
Las Bienaventuranzas
En el Evangelio de Mateo, las Bienaventuranzas que Jesús proclama en el Sermón del Monte parecen bastante extrañas a primera vista. Por supuesto, son desafiantes y contra-culturales. ¿Por qué querríamos ser pobres, o mansos, o perseguidos?
No es hasta que nos damos cuenta de que Jesús es la encarnación de todas las virtudes que se presentan en las Bienaventuranzas que reconocemos la belleza que producen. El gran “teólogo suizo de la belleza”, Hans Urs Von Balthasar, proclama el cristianismo católico en términos de amor expresado como belleza, bondad y verdad. Fue influenciado por los Padres de la Iglesia y por San Ignacio Loyola quienes entendieron el acto de fe como arraigado no en la razón sino en el amor.
Jesús es “la imagen del Dios invisible” (Colosenses 1:15). Por lo tanto, su belleza supera cualquier belleza mundana. ¿Cómo los principios de las bienaventuranzas producen belleza?
Miremos de cerca a Jesús, como lo describe el difunto Padre Balthasar en su libro: Luz de la Palabra, pág. 43.
Lo que Jesús dice ... es la expresión pura de su
Misión personal y destino. Él es el que tiene
Pobreza por nosotros, llora sobre Jerusalén.
Él es el no violento contra el cual todo el mundo
La violencia rabia y se rompe. Él es el que
Hombre y sed de justicia de Dios, que revela y
Logra la compasión de Dios en la tierra. Él tiene el
Corazón puro que siempre ve al Padre; Él es, como Pablo
Dice, "nuestra paz" en virtud de haber destruido la enemistad
Con su cuerpo crucificado (Ef 2: 14-17). Él es el indicado
Perseguido por el mundo entero porque ha
Encarnó la justicia de Dios. En todos ellos es el
Bendito [feliz] porque él perfectamente encarna y
Media la salvación que Dios tiene para el mundo.
En otras palabras, Jesús es un ejemplo vivo de las Bienaventuranzas que Él comparte con todos nosotros en esta lectura del Evangelio. Dentro de éstos, Jesús nos ofrece las llaves de la belleza y la paz. Él nos pide que sigamos Su ejemplo. Él nos envía su paz, pero nos advierte que la paz que da no es la clase que el mundo da. Es una paz más profunda y duradera. Déjenos estar agradecidos por su presencia permanente y Sus dones preciosos.
Sister Annette, when I read your comment about the Beatitudes being “challenging and counter-cultural,” I was reminded of Matthew Kelly’s book “Rediscover Jesus” which our Scripture Sharing group recently finished reading and discussing. Throughout its chapters Kelly refers to Jesus’ teachings as radical because they focused on conversion of the heart rather than external behaviors. Kelly writes that Jesus was a radical because, “He reminds us at every turn that God’s ways are not a slight variation of man’s ways, but that they are in fact radically different.” Jesus’ teachings communicate radical love. This radical love is certainly at the heart of the Beatitudes.
ReplyDeleteDr. Steve Andrews writes, “Beginning with the Beatitudes, Jesus introduced a new and radical philosophy of relating to the heavenly Father. Jesus preached about a loving God who loved ‘whosoever,’ not just religious professionals. Faith was no longer a legalistic code of restricted behavior, but a living covenant that promised blessing. The concepts declared in the Beatitudes still stand in sharp contrast to the dominating world philosophy.”
Pope St. John Paul II, in his Homily delivered on the Mount of the Beatitudes on March 24, 2000, told the crowd that the Beatitudes, along with the Ten Commandments, “offer us the roadmap of our Christian life and a summary of our responsibilities to God and neighbor. The Law and the Beatitudes together mark the path of the following of Christ and the royal road to spiritual maturity and freedom.”
“Blessed are You!” he says, “all you who are poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, you who mourn, who care for what is right, who are pure in heart, who make peace, you who are persecuted! Blessed are you! But the words of Jesus may seem strange. It is strange that Jesus exalts those whom the world generally regards as weak. He says to them, Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners: the kingdom of heaven is yours! Spoken by him who is gentle and humble in heart, these words present a challenge which demands a deep and abiding transformation of the heart.”
St. John Paul II went on to address the young people present, explaining that a change of heart is necessary because of the “voice of evil” that is within and around us. That contradictory voice says, “Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way.”
“In the end, Jesus does not merely speak the Beatitudes. He lives the Beatitudes. He is the Beatitudes. Looking at Him you see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted.”
The Beatitudes call us to a radically new way of being where God is the center of our lives. The Beatitudes are an invitation to a new way of living through which we are transformed. Lastly, the Beatitude life-style offers us authentic happiness as we experience God’s love more deeply and grow to know true peace.
That observation about Jesus as the "embodiment of all the virtues that are presented in the Beatitudes" is certainly a profound and inspiring one. Your reflections are appreciated, Sister.
ReplyDeleteThe following excerpts are from an address by Pope Francis:
"It is always a joyful experience for us to read and reflect on the Beatitudes! Jesus proclaimed them in his first great sermon, preached on the shore of the sea of Galilee. There was a very large crowd, so Jesus went up on the mountain to teach his disciples. That is why it is known as "the Sermon on the Mount"....Throughout his life, from his birth in the stable in Bethlehem until his death on the cross and his resurrection, Jesus embodied the Beatitudes. All the promises of God's Kingdom were fulfilled in him.
In proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus asks us to follow him and to travel with him along the path of love, the path that alone leads to eternal life. It is not an easy journey, yet the Lord promises us his grace and he never abandons us. We face so many challenges in life: poverty, distress, humiliation, the struggle for justice, persecutions, the difficulty of daily conversion, the effort to remain faithful to our call to holiness, and many others. But if we open the door to Jesus and allow him to be part of our lives, if we share our joys and sorrows with him, then we will experience the peace and joy that only God, who is infinite love, can give."
"Have the courage to swim against the tide. Have the courage be truly happy! Say "no" to an ephemeral, superficial and throwaway culture, a culture that assumes that you are incapable of taking on responsibility and facing the great challenges of life!"
"The Magnificat, the Canticle of Mary, poor in spirit, is also the song of everyone who lives by the Beatitudes. The joy of the Gospel arises from a heart which, in its poverty, rejoices and marvels at the works of God, like the heart of Our Lady, whom all generations call "blessed" (cf.Lk 1:48)' May Mary, Mother of the poor and Star of the new evangelization help us to live the Gospel, to embody the Beatitudes in our lives, and to have the courage always to be happy."
Pope Francis
World Youth Day Message
February 6, 2014