Cycle A - Year I:  

29 January 2017: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Gospel: Please read  Matthew 5:1-12a

Searching for eternal happines!

If Jesus is with us in the flesh today, how would He preach God's kingdom?

Would He go to a Church and preach in a pulpit? Would He use television and radio to reach His audience? Would He use the social media to catch our attention?

Or would He continue to be an itinerant preacher, traveling from place to place to preach to those who follow Him, just like the apostolic times?

Well, we really don't know.  But Jesus is a great preacher. He used simple teaching methods, based on ordinary every day life to point to another order of reality.

One thing is sure, I think, and it is that our Lord Jesus Christ will always preach from the heart, regardless of the way He chooses to proclaim God's kingdom. For it is through the heart that God speaks to us. And God's word is timeless.

In one sweeping poetic way, Jesus teaches us how to know the heaven that is dwelling inside us, and reach the heaven that is not here yet.

The Gospel proclamation this Sunday is about the Sermon on the Mont, more popularly known as the Beatitudes.

The word "beatitude" means literally "happiness", or "blessedness" in the context of our search for God's kingdom. So, what is the significance of the beatitudes, and why are they so central in the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ?

As we reflect more deeply in today's readings, we will realize that the

beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness in every human heart. Because the beatitudes teach us the final end to which God calls us to His kingdom. But the beatitudes also confront us with decisive choices concerning the life we pursue here on earth and the use we make of the goods God puts at our disposal. For in reality, God alone satisifies our longing for happiness, and not material possessions or wealth.

In other words, the Beatitudes point the way to God's kingdom. The saints have trodden the path of the beatitudes in their worldly journey. So we, too, are called to be holy and to be happy by working for the treasures which can afford us welcome into the heavenly home. Because when we follow the wayof the Beatitudes our Lord Jesus promises us, at the conclusion of the Gospel reading today... "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven".... just like the saints.

True happiness, after all, can only come from living the values of God's kingdom that are clearly expressed in the Beatitudes, even in our times.

We also celebrate National Bible Sunday with the theme: "The Bible: Hope for the Community's Progress." Let us pray for grace to live the Word of God in order to live a happy and blessed life. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!