Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Rev. Joseph McCloskey, SJ
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; Seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the LORD'S anger. Zephaniah 2:3
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Matthew 5:12
Piety
Psalm 146
Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, my soul; I shall praise the LORD all my life, sing praise to my God while I live.
I put no trust in princes, in mere mortals powerless to save.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth; that day all their planning comes to nothing.
Happy those whose help is Jacob's God, whose hope is in the LORD, their God,
The maker of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free; the LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD protects the stranger, sustains the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the way of the wicked.
The LORD shall reign forever, your God,
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/020308.shtml
Our call to follow the Lord does not come from good looks, brains or wealth. It comes from the love of the Lord for us as we are. It is a great realization the day we discover the Lord loves us as we are. We do not have to do something to deserve his love. Love is a free gift that belongs to the one who opens their heart to love even as Christ has loved. Christ says it wonderfully. Love one another as I have loved you. Even as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. We are called into God’s love by the awareness that God is the perfect lover in his Son Jesus Christ.
No one can boast before the Lord. It is not for our merits that call God’s attention to us.
It is our love of one another that opens us up to God’s love for us. God chose the foolish of the world to shame those who would appear wise. The Blessed of our world are those who have nothing. God’s love shows through their weakness. It is hard to see God at work in our strength. We are able to live in his love when we love one another. God loved us so much that he sent his only Son to be one of us. God loved us so much that he was willing to be one of us and one with us.
The beatitudes reveal the bias of God for the Poor. The happiness in the Beatitudes belongs to those who reach out to one another with the love of Christ. Any Beatitude reveals something of the mind and the heart of Christ. He came for those who need him. He is speaking to us through his happiness at the plan of the Father. We follow Christ in living out those Beatitudes to the best of our ability. When we can say which one fits our happiness best, we know how we best belong to the Lord.
Action
Piety, study and action all have to do with a closer walk with Christ.
Our Christ life does not just happen in our lives. Our piety is the plan we have to walk more closely with the Lord by a real, down-to-earth living out of what we see in Christ. We need to study his life through the saints that make him real to us. In all ways, they are an update of how Christ would be alive today if he lived with us. We study how to best put into practice what we see in him. Our actions are in all the ways we are his hands and his feet. He had to die and rise so we could find him living in our goodness and growing in all the ways we are trying to imitate him by the good we do for one another. We gaze at Christ that we might become like him. We work out our lives so that we can say we no longer live, but Christ lives in us and we find our being in who He is in us.
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