Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 5:1-12
ONCE THERE WAS A GREAT KING WHO LIVED IN LUXURY AND WAS SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED TO HIS EVERY NEED. WHEN HE WAS OLD, SOMEONE ASKED HIM IF HE HAD EVER BEEN UNHAPPY. “UNHAPPY?” HE REPLIED. “DURING MY ENTIRE LIFE, I WAS TRULY HAPPY ONLY ONCE ON A TUESDAY AFTERNOON WHEN I WAS TWENTY-FOUR.”.
WE SOMETIMES FORGET THAT JESUS WAS ALL ABOUT HAPPINESS, HAPPINESS IN THE NEXT LIFE OF COURSE, BUT HAPPINESS IN THIS WORLD AS WELL. JESUS SPENDS A LOT OF TIME TEACHING HIS DISCIPLES AND US HOW TO BE HAPPY. AND WE ARE LIKE THE DISCIPLES, WE DON'T GET IT, WE MISS THE POINT.
THE BEATITUDES WE HEAR TODAY ARE A CASE IN POINT. THE WORDS “BLESSED” OR “HOW BLEST” COULD JUST AS EASILY BE TRANSLATED “HAPPY”, OR EVEN “DELIGHTED”. AND SO IF JESUS TELLS US THAT WE WILL BE DELIGHTED IF WE ARE POOR IN SPIRIT, IF WE HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE, IF WE MOURN, IF WE ARE PERSECUTED, WE SHOULD LISTEN. BECAUSE MOST OF US ARE NOT AS HAPPY AS WE WOULD LIKE TO BE. THINGS THAT WE THINK ARE GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO US GENERALLY FALL SHORT. WE PURSUE HAPPINESS, THAT IS OUR RIGHT; BUT IF WE ARE ADULTS, WE PROBABLY HAVE RESIGNED OURSELVES TO THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY THAT THIS IS AS GOOD AS ITS GOING TO GET.
GOD WANTS US TO BE HAPPY, NOT JUST IN HEAVEN, BUT RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. GOD WANTS US TO BE SO HAPPY THAT THERE WILL BE NO ROOM FOR SADNESS. HE IS, AFTER ALL, OUR FATHER, AND WHAT FATHER DOES NOT WANT HIS CHILDREN TO BE HAPPY?
YOU AND I CAN EASILY REMEMBER WHEN WE WEREN'T HAPPY. WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHEATED; WE MIGHT HAVE DISCOVERED THAT A FRIEND BETRAYED US. WE MIGHT HAVE COMPARED OURSELVES TO SOMEONE WE ENVIED AND FELT SAD THAT WE COULD NOT BE WHAT THAT PERSON WAS. SOMETIMES WE FIND OURSELVES RUMINATING ABOUT HOW OUR LIFE HAS TURNED OUT SO POORLY, COMPARED TO WHAT WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.
IF WE THINK ABOUT THOSE TIMES WE HAVE BEEN UNHAPPY, THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IS THAT WE WERE THINKING ABOUT OURSELVES. IN FACT, THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY WE CAN BE UNHAPPY, AND THAT IS WHEN OUR ATTENTION TURNS IN ON OURSELVES.
BUT WHEN WE ARE FOCUSING ON OTHER PEOPLE OR ON GOD, THEN WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF BEING HAPPY. AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS IS POINTING OUT WHEN HE GIVES US THE BEATITUDES.
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT – HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO PAY NO ATTENTION TO POSSESSIONS, TO TITLES, TO HONORS – BECAUSE THEY ARE OPEN TO ALL THE GIFTS WHICH GOD HAS IN STORE FOR THEM.
BLESSED ARE THE SORROWING – HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO TRULY ARE ABLE TO MOURN – BECAUSE MOURNING, SORROWING, IS OUR RECOGNITION OF OUR HELPLESSNESS, OUR WORTHLESSNESS. MOST OF THE TIME WE MOURN, OR WE ARE SORROWFUL, BECAUSE SOMETHING COMES ALONG THAT DIMINISHES US, OR CAUSES PAIN. THAT IS NOT WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT. TRUE MOURNING COMES FROM KNOWING HOW BADLY WE HAVE FAILED IN WHAT GOD EXPECTS OF US. AND UNTIL WE REACH THIS REALIZATION, GOD WILL NOT MOVE INTO OUR LIVES AND COMFORT US WITH HIS TRANSFORMING POWER.
BLESSED ARE THE MEEK, THE LOWLY – HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO REALIZE THAT THERE IS NOTHING IN THEIR LIVES THAT THEY DESERVE, THAT EVERY BLESSING IS A GIFT. MOST OF US REGARD THINGS AS “OURS” AND ARE NEVER HAPPY BECAUSE WHEN WE LOSE SOMETHING WE SEE THAT IT DIMINISHES US; BUT JESUS SAYS THAT HAPPINESS IS WHEN WE SEE THAT EVERYTHING IS AN UNDESERVED GIFT,EVEN THE BREATH OF AIR THAT WE BREATH, AND IF WE SEE THAT WE ARE CONSTANTLY BEING SHOWERED WITH GIFTS, HOW CAN WE NOT BE HAPPY.
AND WHEN YOU READ THROUGH EACH OF THE BEATITUDES, THE SAME THEME COMES THROUGH; IF WE LOSE OURSELVES IN A CAUSE, IF WE IDENTIFY WITH SOMETHING BIGGER THAN US, IF WE MOVE OUT OF OURSELVES AND QUITE WORRYING ABOUT OUR OWN PRIDE, OUR OWN POSSESSIONS, IF WE QUIT PAYING ATTENTION TO MY THINGS, MY FEELINGS, A STRANGE THING WILL HAPPEN. IF WE QUIT LOOKING FOR OUR HAPPINESS, AND TRY TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE HAPPY BY REMOVING THE BARRIERS TO THEIR HAPPINESS, WHY THEN WE BECOME TRULY HAPPY.
AND THE MOST AMAZING THING OF ALL IS THAT EVEN IF WE ARE PERSECUTED AND PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE WE ARE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, WE KNOW THAT WE WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN GOD'S PRESENCE, SO EVEN IF WE ARE IN GREAT PHYSICAL PAIN, HAPPINESS CANNOT BE TAKEN FROM US.
AND THAT IS THE SECRET THAT JESUS IMPARTS TO THOSE WHO WOULD LISTEN. IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY, DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE. IF YOU WANT TO BE UNHAPPY, DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF. IF YOU SPEND YOUR LIFE DOING THINGS FOR YOURSELF, YOU WILL NEVER BE HAPPY. IF YOU SPEND YOUR LIFE WORRYING ABOUT HOW PEOPLE TREAT YOU, BEING CONCERNED ABOUT WHETHER YOU ARE GIVEN THE HONOR TO WHICH YOU ARE DUE, ALWAYS ON GUARD AGAINST BEING DISRESPECTED, WHY THEN, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE UNHAPPY.
ARE YOU AND I AS HAPPY AS WE COULD BE? I DOUBT IT. I'M CERTAINLY NOT. DO YOU AND I HAVE THE COURAGE TO LISTEN AND FOLLOW THE SIMPLE TEACHING OF JESUS? I FEAR THAT I HAVE A WAY TO GO. HOPEFULLY, YOU HAVE LESS THAN I. BUT HAPPINESS IS EASY. AND IF WE ARE NOT HAPPY, WE HAVE ONLY OURSELVES TO BLAME. AND I HAVE A FEELING THAT WE HAVE TO LEARN THIS LESSON COMPLETELY WHILE ON EARTH OR IN PURGATORY IF WE ARE EVER TO ENJOY HEAVEN – WE HAVE TO LEARN THAT HAPPINESS CANNOT BE FOUND BY PLEASING OURSELVES, ONLY BY TURNING OUR ATTENTION TO THOSE AROUND US.
SO THIS WEEK AS WE PREPARE FOR LENT, LET US THINK ABOUT THE BEATITUDES, JESUS' GUIDE TO HAPPINESS, AND WHETHER WE COULD LIFE THEM A LITTLE BETTER THAN WE ARE DOING. BECAUSE JESUS HAS GIVEN US HIS WORD THAT WE WILL TRULY FIND HAPPINESS, ABUNDANT LIFE, IF WE JUST FOLLOW HIS DIRECTIONS.