4th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Monica Welch (Dovetaillink)

 4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Zephaniah 2:3;3:12‑13    1 Corinthians 1:26‑31      Matthew 5:1‑12

"Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!" (Matt 5:3)   This acclamation is both the refrain for this Sunday's responsorial psalm and the opening line of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel reading.  For those of us who may be desperately aware of our spiritual and economic poverty and the need for God's justice, Jesus' words are "good news."  We are assured of God's special care and blessing.  For those of us who are smugly comfortable with the worldly status quo, Jesus' words are a stern rebuke.  We are challenged to hear again the revolutionary message of the kingdom Jesus preaches.

Zephaniah's prophecy was spoken in the early years of King Josiah's reign (640‑609 B.C.) when the king was attempting to purify Judah from deep seated idolatry and the neglect of the social justice demanded by the Torah.  The prophet was convinced that the nation of Judah and its surrounding neighbors were about to be annihilated "on the day of the Lord's anger."  According to Zephaniah, only a remnant "who have observed his (the Lord's) law" will be sheltered on judgment day.  This faithful remnant are instructed to "seek the Lord" by living justly and humbly in a time of injustice and pride.  The reading concludes with an assurance that the Lord will bless the humble remnant who takes refuge in him by doing and speaking no wrong.  "They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them."      

The reading from 1 Corinthians continues Paul's argument that the existence of rival groups in the Corinthian community is contrary to the nature of the Christian gospel.   Last week, we heard Paul assert that the gospel is foolishness by worldly standards.  God's saving power has been revealed in worldly weakness: the cross on which Jesus, the Messiah, was crucified.  For Paul, the mystery of this paradox extends into the life of the Christian community. Those who have responded to the good news of salvation through Jesus' cross are not the philosophically wise, nor the powerful.

                                    Not many of you were wise by human standards;

                                    not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 

                                    Rather, God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong . . .

Because God has saved us through Christ despite our weakness, Paul concludes that there is no place for worldly boasting in the Christian community.  The only proper response to God's grace is to offer him grateful praise, or in Paul's words, to "boast in the Lord." 

                                    It is due to him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus,

                                    who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness,

                                    sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written,

                                    “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

Jesus' proclamation of the beatitudes (exclamations of congratulation) in today’s Gospel completes today's theme of God's concern for the lowly who pursue justice.  The beatitudes are the beginning of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount which we will be reading for the next six weeks of Ordinary Time.  Jesus announces the prophetic fulfillment of the law and prophets (Matthew 5‑7).  The setting and tone are solemn and apocalyptic.  Jesus goes up a mountainside, a place of revelation like Sinai in Exodus where Moses and Israel first received the Law.  Seating himself in the traditional position of a teacher, he majestically proclaims the fulfillment of the law. 

Jesus begins with the joyful announcement of God's present and future blessing upon the ’anawim, "the meek, humble" who acknowledge their total dependence upon God for their justice and vindication.  The "poor in spirit," the "mourning," and those "who hunger and thirst for justice" refer to the same people: the weak who suffer from injustice.  They are blessed because of God's special care for them.  Three of the beatitudes are more active: showing mercy, being single‑hearted and making peace.   Their meaning will be fleshed out in Jesus' teachings on forgiveness, fulfillment of the law's commandments, and love of the enemy (see Matt 5:17‑46).  The twofold blessing on the persecuted reflects the experience of martyrdom in the early Church.  All of the beatitudes mirror the Matthew’s Jesus, the  truly blessed one, who both embodies the joy the kingdom brings and also obediently trusts his Father to the point of suffering  death for the sake of the kingdom (see Matt 10:24‑42; 11:25‑30).