3.02.2008 - 4th Sunday O.T. - year
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First Reading: Zeph; 2,3; 3,2-13 Psalm 146 Second Reading; I Cor 1,26-31
Gospel Reading; Matt 5,1-12
When we think of God we usually think of him as Creator of heaven and earth.
This comes from our knowledge of the Bible and it is not difficult to see how
it corresponds to the truth. God created all things! This the Bible states in
the first page. We believe it! And if we believe it, this means that it is not
the conclusion of scientific reasoning, but that it is an act of faith! There
is a moment that scientific reasoning cannot help us and we are left with mystery.
We are grateful to our faith if it helps us to take the next step. From the
fact that we believe that God created everything we learn to look at the reality
that surrounds us with great respect and admiration: everything is an act of
God, everything is a gift from our Father! To believe that God created everything
means to be extremely interested in him and, at the same time, to be very aware
of all that we see. If God created everything, some aspect of his love, of his
loyalty, of his wisdom, of his mercy, of his goodness is manifest in everything.
We look for him in all his works. Every single thing becomes precious to us,
not for its intrinsic or its commercial value, but because it was desired and
realized by our Father! To believe that God is the creator of everything means
to see, to observe, to notice in everything something extra and to use it to
shape and to mature our relationship with God. To believe that God is creator
places us in a positive culture, which is real and stable and capable of accepting
and searching for the truth. This faith opens our hearts and minds to an objective
truth which brings us closer to each other and makes us able to understand and
respect each other. In the last century there was an attempt to fight our faith
using scientific notions as though our ability to reason and make discoveries
were a new god which could replace God himself.
"I shall leave a remnant in you , lowly and poor people", said the
prophet Zephaniah in the name of God. And so God shows where his sympathies
lie. His heart always goes out to the humble especially if they are poor and
suffering. Do you wish to be in God's graces? "seek righteousness, seek
humility that you may find shelter on the day of the Lord's anger". Those
who want to be considered great among men, those who accept an arrogant heart
are never pleasing to God for he himself is humble and simple. We can see God's
humility through his sending us Jesus to help us and to make himself known to
us: all his life Jesus was a witness to simplicity and poverty, from his birth
to his death! It is not surprising, therefore, that St Paul insists, "Yet
to shame the wise, God has chosen what the world counts folly and to shame what
is strong, God has chosen what the world counts weakness. He has chosen things
without rank or standing in the world, mere nothings to overthrow the existing
order. So no place is left for any human pride in the presence of God!"
We are conscious of our weakness and of our ignorance and, above all, conscious
that the world considers us foolish because we believe and that we are despised
because we love a man who was crucified; but we are happy to accept God's way.
We are not ashamed of how the world considers us; it does not frighten us to
be despised; it does not surprise us to be ignored, not at all! It is how we
expect things to be.
St Paul spoke as he did because of Jesus' words! Jesus spoke to the crowds with
the words that were to become famous: "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!" Today we listen to them again with
joy, but also with the desire to understand a little more and to be counted
among the poor in spirit. Many Christians have wondered about the meaning of
"in spirit" which characterises the poor. I am still convinced that
it means: "blessed are those who decide to be poor, who wish to live in
poverty for the love of God, so that God may shine in their lives as the only
true wealth, the only true source of life, of joy and of love". With this
teaching Jesus is in complete accord with that of the prophets and he helps
us to read and interpret his way of life. We are won over and comforted in our
decision of poverty. We do not chose to be poor for the love of the poor, but
for the love of God, so that he can manifest in us his beauty and his greatness
and for love of Jesus who "he was rich yet for your sake he became poor,
so that through his poverty you might become rich" (II Cor 8,9). When we
choose to become poor for the love of God, we become rich within, rich in willingness
to help, in love, in understanding, in simplicity, in humility and joy, rich
in life. Jesus continues to say "blessed are the poor in spirit" and
adds the other beatitudes to help us understand and love this one! And we open
our hearts to changing our desires from those things that are transitory and,
therefore, deceive us, to those that are within us and invisible but are permanent
and will make us worthy of "the Kingdom of Heaven"!