FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME -- YEAR A 

READINGS First Reading: Zeph 2: 3; 3: 12-13; Second: 1 Cor 1: 26-31 Gospel: Mt 5: 1-12

THEME OF READINGS 

Happiness is the vocation of the Christian. This is the message of today's liturgy, but, we must find out where true happiness lies. The liturgy of today leaves us in no doubt: "I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly.… They shall pasture and lie down, and none shall make them afraid" (First Reading). "Happy are the poor in spirit, the sad, the humble," the Gospel tells us. Lastly, St. Paul says to the Corinthians: "God chose what is foolish in the world, ... what is weak,... what is low and despised, even the things that are not.... Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord 

DOCTRINAL MESSAGE 

Man looks for happiness. He does it by instinct, it is his end and, speaking in a Christian vein, his vocation and mission. For the non-believer, or for the person of weak faith, to seek is a natural act, an impulse that must be satisfied. Man looks for happiness relentlessly, including with anguish, and when he finds a ray of it, his whole life is illuminated, at least for an instant. Such a person looks for the sun and finds only a ray which he hopes will last forever, but which disappears as fast as it came. 

Two attitudes might result from this: to sink into the darkness of despair and indifference, or to begin frenetically again as a new Sisyphus, looking for that happiness barely tasted and so quickly gone. For the believing Christian, happiness is a call, a task, a mission, involving the whole of life in searching for it and possessing it. 

For the true believer, faith is the root of happiness. The believer searches with peace and joy, and the roots of happiness sink ever deeper into his heart. The believer knows that the quest is not illusory. Eventually he will possess the happiness he seeks. The believer knows als that happiness in faith does not have a lasting place on earth, only in heaven. A non-believer does not know where to look for happiness. Many roads are open, and many "prophets" beckon: "Follow me and I will lead you to happiness …" Moreover, within one feels strong instincts and passions … and believes that in satisfying them he will possess happiness. The non-believer also has noble ideals, generous and altruistic thoughts, and sometimes begins to look on such a road. He feels the "I" with irresistible force, and its demands for success and triumph. "This is the true road!" an interior voice whispers. He starts, and after several attempts, realizes that all those roads were deceptions; what to do next?The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers the only path to happiness for a Christian, both now and hereafter. It is a simple, sure road: poverty of spirit, humility of heart, simplicity of life, confident abandonment to God, detachment from creatures, the wisdom of the cross. It is an easy and sure way, but which, unfortunately, appears disagreeable, hard and contrary to human nature. Indeed, 

the beatitudes are not slogans with a market in the world of advertising. The beatitudes are, essentially, the strength and wisdom of God. Only God can teach us where to find true happiness. Happiness is a gift, not a human accomplishment. It is a real possibility, not an utopia. 

Jesus received this marvelous gift from his Father. He lived, what he later preached. He was happy in poverty, humility, purity of heart, and persecution, and he thirst for justice, and the building of peace. Jesus’ best disciples, the saints, walk in his footsteps. They have entered the Kingdom of happiness, lived and preached with Jesus, and once there, they asked and obtained the gift of remaining with him, being admitted as citizens to that mysterious Kingdom. Christ invites Christians today to be happy, but in the way he and the saints understood it.

PASTORAL SUGGESTIONS 

1. Happiness and faith. There could be persons in our parishes who think and live, although they might not realize it, as if faith and happiness are incompatible. For instance, they might reason thus: "If I want to be happy, I must put faith aside" or "If I want to live my faith, I must forget about happiness." A situation, we might say, where the believer has been prohibited not one but all the trees in paradise. In fact, it is the very opposite. We can taste all the trees in paradise and be happy. Only one is prohibited, and that one is wanting to find happiness wherever we feel like or think is best. The experience of Christian life is quite another: the more deeply one believes, the more the soul expands, and the more capacity there is to embrace the plentitude of happiness, a happiness that ends in God. 

2. Witnesses to happiness. There are many cheerful people in the world -- I am referring to healthy cheerfulness, not uncontrolled behavior -- but few who are happy. Cheerfulness can disappear in a flash, it can be present while we feel well, contented, satisfied, optimistic, smiling. Happiness, instead, is lasting. It is the peace of the one who has God and lives in friendship with him, the joy of serving with love without looking at whom but only for Whom we act, interior silence to listen to God and speak with him, the serene look of faith on the events of life and on the difficulties and sorrows of existence, and the hope that never disappoints of the victory of good over evil. Every true Christian is called to be a witness to happiness in the world. Would this not be one of the best ways of changing our surroundings, and the society in which we live?

Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOA.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].