REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

4^th Sunday (Year A)

30 January 2011

Fr James McTavish, FMVD

“It’s so nice to be happy shalalala”

When I first visited the Philippines in 1999 I was struck by an old man who shared his life story to me. It amazed me that despite all the hardships, trials and poverty he was able to recount the details with a big smile. In the mass that day the Word of God pronounced “the joy of the Lord will be their strength” (Nehemiah 8, 10b). One transcultural value that transcends race, creed and color is the desire to be happy. There are many products here in the Philippines that remind you of that. You can brush your teeth with ‘Hapee’ toothpaste, then wash your hair with ‘Rejoice’ shampoo and cry and wipe your tears with ‘Joy’ tissues. But what is it that actually makes us happy?

This question was asked even by Aristotle (4 centuries before Christ). The term he used was ‘eudaimonia’ kind of meaning blessedness, happiness or fulfilment. One key for him was to live a virtuous life. For some happiness will be found in doing whatever one pleases – to drink too much, to go wild and generally ‘to have fun’. When St Thomas Aquinas looked at the type of life that would make one happy he noted that the morally virtuous person is more passionate than the one without moderation and virtue because "the more perfect a virtue is, the more does it cause passion" (Cf. Summa theologica, I. II. 59, 5). To be genuinely happy we should aspire to live a good life.

The beatitudes of Jesus address this theme of happiness. Jesus, as the perfect man, is trying to reveal to us what makes us happy. Sometimes we do not even know. Has it happened to you? You think you are going to enjoy something and you end up disappointed. But also the opposite – you think that dinner or meeting is going to be a nightmare and in the end you don’t want it to end! Sometimes I do not even know what is best for me. Maybe recognizing this is the beginning of humility.

Matthew gives 8 beatitudes in his gospel (Matt 5, 1-12a). They all begin “Blessed are...” The greek word for blessed is makarioi which can also be translated as happy or fortunate. So who according to Jesus are the happy ones? They are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers (not the pacemakers), those persecuted for the sake of righteousness (not those persecuted for wrongdoing!) and all those who are insulted and chastised because of Christ. The beatitudes challenge us to go for more. The elderly Jesuit priest who gave the homily today made us all laugh. He said often we set our standards not by the beatitudes but by the Ten Commandments. However the Ten Commandments are ‘easy’ because being full of don’ts you can fulfil them by just going to sleep! Behind this humour is a serious intention – many people confess that they have gone against the commandments but never do we ask forgiveness for not living the beatitudes.

The poor in spirit are happy, blessed and fortunate because theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. One initial reaction or even temptation listening to the beatitudes is to feel rather excluded from them, as if they are written for others. Why don’t we try to see if Jesus is actually trying to speak to you and me? He says the poor in spirit not just poor. There are different types of poverty – here in Manila I have met some materially poor who are not poor in spirit and I have met some very rich and wealthy who are actually poor in spirit. It refers to a kind of dependence on God, a slight dissatisfaction with the things of this world as they cannot fulfil us totally. As one author noted “there is within us...an unquenchable thirst that renders the vast majority of us incapable of ever coming to full peace. This desire lies in the marrow of our bones and the deep regions of our soul. We are seldom in touch with it, and indeed the modern world seems set on preventing us from getting in touch with it by covering it with an unending phantasmagoria of entertainments, obsessions, addictions, and distractions of every sort. The reality that excites and fulfils the soul’s longing is God by whatsoever name” (Why Religion Matters, Huston Smith).

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted – not merely to mourn over the death of a loved one but to mourn over injustice in the world which links to a later beatitude ‘Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.’ People who have mourned over injustice and hungered for righteousness – comes to mind Martin Luther King but also my mum who fought for justice when coming into the backgarden she shared some biscuits not merely with me and my friends but also with the children of our neighbor who I did not like so much. Another beatitude that our Lord gives us is about meekness. Normally we associate meekness with weakness but meek does not equal weak! Meekness is a kind of holy gentleness that does not force, that does not react out of provocation. A businessman and his friend were buying a newspaper. The vendor was curt, to the point and rather blunt. The friend wondered why he did not react to the rude vendor. The businessman replied “Because I do not want another to decide for me how I will live this day”. How easy when you are not meek to be put into a bad mood by others! Check that. Why does that person or that attitude always put me in a bad mood? Take one tablet of meekness and it will help overcome this.

The merciful will be happy too as they will be shown mercy - as Jesus tells us in another moment – the measure you use for others will be the measure you are judged by, or another way of putting it – ‘live by the sword, die by the sword.’ Once the brothers were 5 minutes late for mass and I got annoyed. My reaction came back to haunt me the next morning as I slept in and was 15 minutes late! Happy the pure of heart too because they will see God. Let us not reduce purity only to the sexual arena but expand it even to include purity of intentions in terms of integrity and honesty. When you are sincerely trying to do good, you will ‘find God in all things’ as the Jesuits remind us. The peacemakers try to create peace and live in harmony with all. Peace is not the absence of conflict as sometimes the truth will need to be said. The final two beatitudes concern being persecuted and insulted for the Lord. Jesus is quite clear what to do if this happens “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.” Wow! Grant us faith to believe this Lord.

Let us ask the Lord for the grace to live the beatitudes. Which beatitude would you like to live out? Poverty in spirit, meekness, purity, thirst for justice, merciful, peacemaker, bearing insults for Jesus? How about a little spiritual exercise - choose one and pursue it and it will lead us to real joy. It’s so nice to be happy shalalala! Amen.