Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 14, 2010 - Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26]Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.....
How would each of us fill in the blank in the statement: "Happiness is..........?" There are a considerable number of sentimental responses that refer to a momentary pleasure, e.g. "Happiness is a warm puppy..." or a particular need in a given circumstance, e.g. "Happiness is a taxi that shows up just when I need it!" Perhaps some of us would take a few moments and come up with more long term and substantive categories like good health, a happy family, friends, food, shelter, enough to pay the bills with some left over, a good job. Most of us would not equate the ABSENCE of these things with happiness. Poverty, hunger, grief and persecution are not realities we would consider happy. It is all the more strange to hear Jesus speak of wealth, sufficiency and fame as negative things when it comes to "the Kingdom of God." The Gospel of Luke has its equivalent to the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew but it is placed differently (on a plain), contains fewer "beatitudes" and adds curses! Very likely the people whom Jesus addressed on this occasion were already poverty-stricken, hungry and oppressed! Would there be any hope for them? Or is Jesus just speaking of "pie in the sky by and by?" Would there be such a thing as "God's PRESENT concern" for them? Indeed, this is one of the fundamental questions of faith! Perhaps we could look at the present situation in Haiti where thousands of relief workers are demonstrating God's present concern in the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake. A recent portion of the Oprah Winfrey show featured a congregation of Dominican sisters with a considerable number of young sisters in formation. One after another, young women had left prosperous careers and affluent circumstances to seek something "more" in a religious congregation. Story after story comes from Haiti about those who have been working there for years among the poor. What then, in our wealthy secular consumerist culture is happiness? In Jesus' day, wealth usually came about because someone had the power to take it from someone else. The social role of the rich was to share their bounty with the poor. Jesus issues a double-edged warning to poor and rich alike. Happiness is not to be equated with material goods, necessary though they may be. God's mercy is constant - a present concern. Those who have sufficiency are warned to share it. Those who lack sufficiency should know of God's concern for them, which should be expressed by those who are in a position to help. The expression, "a preferential option for the poor," is part of Church teaching. Is it a part of our everyday life? AMEN
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