Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The first reading for Mass this weekend is from Zephaniah. These details are known about this prophet: he was the son of Cushi and a descendant of Hezekiah, presumably King Hezekiah, who reigned as king of Judah, the southern Hebrew kingdom centered on Jerusalem, from 715-687 BC.
Royal ancestry is important. If indeed Zephaniah descended from a king, he may more easily have had access to the royal court and, consequently, more familiarity with the politics of his day.
Whatever the exact time frame in which this prophecy was written, the plight of the Hebrews, both those in the kingdom of Judah and those in the northern kingdom of Israel, was uncertain. The two kingdoms were insignificant and weak. They were easy prey for their mightier neighbors. As history unfolded, powerful neighbors repeatedly overran them.
The prophets, Zephaniah included, saw the peril facing the chosen people not so much because of policies for conquest of hostile neighboring powers, but rather as a consequence of the people’s sin.
Sin was the root of all problems. If the chosen people would remain faithful, regardless of particular circumstances, God’s protection would prevail.
St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians furnishes the next reading. This reading presents to us a paradox. The weak will be exalted. The mighty will be laid low. This paradox is deep and profound, teaching us a fundamental fact of life. But it runs utterly counter to the human presumption of reality. So, we cannot judge our lives or the world by earthly, human standards, but only by Jesus.
For its last reading, the Church this weekend offers us the presentation of the Beatitudes from the Gospel of St. Matthew. (The only other Gospel to offer the Beatitudes is St. Luke, which differs slightly from Matthew’s account of them.)
These verses are reminiscent of the Psalms. This fact seats them well in the history of God’s people and their experiences. It places them clearly in the history of God’s revelation of himself to his people.
Always strong in the Old Testament was the hope that one day God would lead his people into life in a wonderful kingdom where he would reign, and peace, love and justice would prevail.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus is the one and only guide to this kingdom, the only access.
Reflection
The readings for this weekend, culminating in the Beatitudes, both celebrate the revelation of God to us, bringing us genuine wisdom about life, and challenge us to be strong and active witnesses to Jesus and to the truth of the Gospel.
Zephaniah builds the case that living without regard for God reaps the whirlwind. Paul adds another lesson: the judgments of the world are inevitably unsure if not altogether false. If we follow the world’s assessment of things, we at best dance on the edge of the cliff.
The Beatitudes reveal to us the joy and perfection of life with God, and they summon us to do our part in redemption. This summons applies to us personally and collectively. We must accept the Lord, the Son of God, the Redeemer, born of Mary at Christmas, seen as God at the Epiphany, the Savior manifested at the Baptism of the Lord.
Then, beyond ourselves, we are called upon to live the Gospel in our lives in all that we do.
As we look for the coming of Lent not that long away, the Church gently guides us to question ourselves. We have learned of Jesus. Now, how do we respond? †