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Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (Zeph 2:3; 3:12-13; 1Cor 1: 26-31; Matt 5: 1-12)

REFLECT: Seek God, boast in God, be blessed by God and be a blessing to all…

Dear friends, we are in the fourth Sunday in ordinary time. The Liturgy of the word invites each one to be blessed by God and be a blessing to each and every member we meet on earth. Because, each one communicates a message or the other for life that we live. But, be for certain, if we remain a blessing to all in every circumstance, the blessing returns us in disguise richly by God or another in the world. The power of blessing is such that we become blessed and have the power to bless another.  So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection;

1. Be seekers of God:

We all know that a seeker is someone who looks for or searches on to get something that he or she is interested in. In the midst of many who seek on various things, projects for different purposes, we have people who seek God, the author of life. In fact, we can call them as seekers of God or spiritual seekers. The seekers of God journey the way that leads them to God as God wants; He or she orients oneself to God and to pursue God rather than any other goals of human life. The seekers of God do not have a self-discovery rather they discover God in all things including oneself, because, by seeking God and moving towards Him, we obtain blessings, happiness and satisfaction in life.

Something similar is the message that we find in the first reading of prophet Zephaniah, who invites us to seek the Lord. There are four times the prophet Zephaniah uses the word seek; seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility and seek refuge in the name of the Lord. Seeking the Lord means to worship and obey the Lord. No one can seek the Lord without striving after right actions and displaying humility.  Genuine seeking involves persistence and an unshakable trust in God.

The seekers of the Lord and those who seek refuge in the name of the Lord are given the ways and appropriate dispositions to seek the Lord, that is, to seek the Lord in righteousness and humility. First of all, we all know that God is righteous and a righteous God determines right actions; God rewards the righteous and the seekers of righteousness. Thus, God expects us to be righteous and righteousness has to be manifested in our relationship with God and with others. Secondly, humility refers to the moral and spiritual condition of the one who has absolute dependence on God. The humble person seeks God, keeps God's commands, waits on God, and is guided by God. They are dependent on him in everything. So humility is accepting and doing what God wishes or desires. Yes, when one seeks God righteously and humbly, the Lord shows path to fullness of blessings and life. 

Most of us today are not able to seek God because we lack true righteousness and humility. Self-righteousness and the sense of pride, arrogance blur our visions to move towards the goal of life, that is, seeking God. Let us realize that the seekers of God take responsibility for what they do and where they move; the seekers of God commit themselves to to reach the destination in all situations; the seekers of God obtain knowledge from God as how and where they need to move and have their being; Seekers of God allow God to work through them; Seekers of God follow God’s commands and his ways ardently. 

Today, in a world where we spend a lot of time in finding oneself, we need to give sufficient time to  spend time with God and find God in life. I don’t mean to say that we should avoid discovering ourselves who we are or what we do  or what we need to become but when God becomes the focus, he helps and enables us to understand and discover ourselves better. So let us become seekers of God, to seek God’s help us and be enabled, encouraged and live life as God expects or wants of us. The real treasure is God. Let us then seek God, the true treasure of life.

2. Boast in the Lord:

We all know to boast means to give oneself undue attention and focus; one talks with much pride about something that one has or one can do or something one owns in order to win over the admiration of another. It is an activity done purposefully to gain attention and appreciation. It's intentionally done to show one’s strong self-esteem but in fact it sounds aloud the low self-esteem of oneself. That’s why someone has beautifully said that the word ‘boast’ means “to puff oneself up in speech.”

Though all of us to some extent have boastfulness and boast of various things, talents and gifts in life, St. Paul teaches us something quite different. In today’s first reading from St. Paul’s first letter to Corinthians he invites us saying, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Indeed, St. Paul repeats the words of Yahweh addressed through the mouth of Jeremiah the prophet, “let not the wise boast of his wisdom, not the valiant of his valor, nor the wealthy of his wealth. If someone wants to boast, let him boast of this; of understanding and knowing me. I am Yahweh, the merciful.” (Jer 9: 22-24). Here, prophet Jeremiah warned Judah not to boast in their own wisdom and ability rather to put their confidence in the Lord to deliver them from trouble.

Similarly, St. Paul wants the Corinthian Community to understand who, unfortunately had forgotten when they had first received the gospel that most of them were not wise by human standards. They were neither influential nor noble by birth. St. Paul does not use these unappealing descriptions (shame the wise, weak, low and despised) to the Corinthians to belittle them, but to remind them that they had no basis for boasting. It was a divine purpose. God planned to shame those whom the world considered wise and strong. Yes, we boast of many things on earth for which is not our own but given by God. Life is given by God, gifts and talents, power and wisdom, health and wealth, families and friends, things and objects, certainly, all that we have and own are God’s. Therefore, we need to boast everything in the name of the Lord, who gives and has given us freely out of his love and bounty.

We know in the Acts of the Apostles that Saul before he could become Paul boasted himself upon his identity as a Jew, a Pharisee or his journey towards persecuting Christians and put an end to Christianity. But after his encounter with the risen Lord and his conversion on the way to Damascus, his world view and world vision changed. He no more boasts about himself or all that he does rather he boasts everything in the name of the Lord. It is because, St. Paul understood all that he had and all that he has is from God. Therefore, St. Paul says, “Let anyone who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Today vainglory is at the peak of humanity. We try to take undue credit for which we have not worked for and which is not our own. We feel at times that success in life, in our ministries, workplaces, families or in an individual projects that we have worked too hard to obtain it. Yes, we have worked but nothing without the grace from God. It is God who makes things happen; it is God who sets everything right; it is God who does all things. Therefore, we need to have the humility to boast everything in the name of the Lord, to whom everything belongs.

Therefore, a genuine sense of boasting in the Lord would mean that we boast of his great attributes, his great deeds, his eternal promises and countless blessings. So let us not boast oneself for God can make the weak strong, God can turn the poor to rich, the wise to a fool. So instead of drawing attention to ourselves and our works, we shall make efforts to draw attention to Jesus. This boasting in the name of God is an invitation for us to admire Jesus as much as we can at all times. So let us draw our attention to God rather than ourselves. Let God be the first and the rest has its best to come.

3. Be a blessing of God:

In all surety, we become a blessing to one another in the world by the blessings and graces of God. None of us wants ourselves to be cursed or utter all kinds of evil words against us, because, we wish and expect things to be good in and around us. It is the blessing of God that makes us good and enables us to become good to one another.

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew presents to us how we can be blessed in the sight of God and in the sight of everyone, and so we have the Sermon on the Mount or the beatitudes. The evangelist Matthew places this discourse in the hill country bordering the lake of Tiberias. The mention that “Jesus went up to the mountain” reminds us of the Mount Sinai, where Moses received the law (Exo 19). So Matthew presents Jesus as a teacher, with a unique identity as Son of God, who gives Israel and all humankind the definitive laws and ways to be in union with God, to experience God’s blessings in abundance and be happy in life by following  and living the beatitudes.

The beatitudes are indeed a bold affirmation laid to obtain the highest happiness and be part of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus. The blessings of the beatitudes are for people who are ready for the coming of God’s Kingdom. This passage shows how people should be prepared or disposed; hence it shows us prerequisites for the kingdom as well as kingdom promises of God. The poor, the mournful, the gentle, the just, the merciful, the pure, the bringer of peace and the persecutor for the cause of righteousness will obtain blessings from God and happiness in life, provided one believes in God’s kingdom, promotes God’s kingdom, propagates the kingdom of God and fulfills its values on earth.

In the midst of misery, sufferings, harshness, unjust fetters, merciless acts, impure and peaceless living, we must rely on the blessings of God, because God turns our battles into blessings, worries into wonderful pathways. Our constant faithfulness to God is shown, when we continue to manifest God’s blessings to all and be a blessing to one another in midst of chaotic phase of life. One can give blessings to other, if only one is blessed by God or have God's blessings. Therefore. it is important that we seeek God's blessings to be a blessing to one another.

We read in the book of Genesis, God saying to Abraham, the father in faith, “I will bless you,” “and you will be a blessing and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3). We see here the purpose of God’s blessings to Abraham. It is to be a blessing given to him and through him to one another in the world. So blessing is first of all to share with others and not to keep it for oneself. We also read in the Gospel of Matthew, “the Father who is in the heavens causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust,” (Matt 5:45). It implies that it is the prerogative and preference of God to bless people whomsoever he wishes and wills. We cannot question God or his plans. We need to desire what God wants. But, if we look at our lives, God  has always blessed us, because our God is a God of blessings and he gives his blessing to all.

At times, we become ungrateful of God’s blessings, even after having been blessed by God many a times; we don’t make efforts to receive the blessing of God or to bless others in words and deeds. We curse and injure people in different ways. We become the cause of disunity and division. It is because of our selfishness and pride, arrogance and anger, hatred and jealousy, above all the lack of understanding about God’s love and blessings over us.

So let us take to heart today that God does not list the score of wrongs that we commit in life. God unstoppably blesses us. God’s blessings are given to us to be a blessing to another. Choosing to remain unblessed and not blessing others is unbecoming of us as God’s children, after having received God’s blessings for all things freely without any reserve. So let us obtain God’s blessings and choose to be a blessing to one another in every little acts that we do. Let our little words that we speak and deeds that we do manifest God's blessings to all. May God bless us to be a blessing to one another in the world.

RESPOND:

Do I seek God and his ways or seek after worldly possessions, pleasures and positions?

Do I boast of God’s grace which counts in us or Do I boast of our own strengths and capabilities?

Do I choose to be a blessing of God to one another in the world?

Let us seek God, boast in God's name and be a blessing to one another in the world. Amen.

God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968