Bibliarasal ABRIDGED / FOURTH Sunday in ordinary time / J A N U A R Y 29, 2017

ATTITUDES FOR HAPPINESS

READ ZEPHANIAH 2: 3; 3:12-13; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31; MATTHEW 5:1-12a.

PAUSE BEFORE READING AND THINK OF THIS: Happiness on earth is something elusive. People try to
find it in Love, Wealth, Fame, Good Health and so on. But these sources of happiness never last. Even happily
married couples with a loving family of children sometimes find out that one is alone all the loved and loving
ones are gone. One gets disappointed or frustrated when one places ones happiness on something material or
temporal no matter how good that may seem for a while. And so the Beatitudes, the opening salvo of Jesus
Sermon on the Mount in Matthew (our source for Ordinary Time Gospel Readings in Year A), teach us that
happiness depends on something spiritual: our frame of mind, the way we look at things and persons and
whatever happens to us. Let us adopt these Be-Attitudes, and nobody and nothing can take away our
happiness from us.

<> Hopefully our Bibliarasal will help us discover the values of the Beatitudes.

SELECTED VERSES WITH COMMENTARY. Let at least ONE TEACHING or ONE VALUE in the three
Readings sink into your mind, heart and soul. Here are some points.
(1) Zeph 3:12-13a [I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, Who shall take refuge in the
name of the Lord; the remnant of Israel] {\} The prophecy of Zephaniah came before that of Jeremiah. Although in the
first two chapters the prophecy is that of doom and disaster for Israel because of its penchant for idolatry and social
injustice, in the end, the prophet foresees a Remnant a people that will come home to Zion after the Exile, and they
will come home singing for joy. They are a people called Anawim, who have learned their lesson of being humble and
being dependent wholly on God for their well-being.
(2) 1 Cor 1:27-30 [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. It is due to him that you are in
Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.] {\} Paul
knew from experience that people who, by their own efforts, had become wise, strong, or respectable, are the ones who
resist Gods call to salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. By contrast, the Corinthian Christians were not wise, not strong, not
even respectable when they heard the Good News and believed in Jesus Christ. They should not now put on airs. They
are to continue depending on Jesus Christ for their righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
(3) Mt 5:1-12a [Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven] {\} The (originally) seven or eight
Beatitudes actually recommend one basic disposition or attitude for Christian happiness: that of surrendering oneself
totally to God. So, for example, what counts for happiness is not being materially poor or rich but being spiritually
poor. Through the centuries, however, commentators have struggled in explaining what it means to be spiritually poor.
A quite popular view is to say that one can be rich but detached from ones wealth. This is not very Biblical. The Bible
requires that one is to be like the Anawim. Not miserably poor but poor enough to need to depend on God to have a
good life.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND SHARING

(1) Does your happiness depend on what you can possess, what you can touch, what you can see? Or does it depend on
your attitude, your frame of mind? Tell us about it.
(2) Which of the Beatitudes do you find most important in your present situation? Tell us about it.

FR. RIVERAS SHARING

MAKE ME A CHANNEL OF YOUR PEACE

Francesco was an unhappy man although he was rich, popular with the pretty damsels he loved to serenade, and
apparently had nothing to worry about in his life. Then he got sick and was incurable for about three years. In
desperation, he turned to Jesus Christ, who made him well. But he really found happiness only when he embraced
poverty and decided to live as a poor man, as Jesus did. This Francesco one is referring to is none other than St. Francis
of Assisi. Tradition attributes a famous prayer to him, a prayer that has helped me understand the true meaning of the
Beatitudes. It has been rendered into a song thus:

1. Make me a channel of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me bring your love;
where there is injury, your pardon, Lord;
and where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Refrain:
O Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.
2. Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope;
where there is darkness, let me bring your light;
and where there's sadness, ever joy. [Refrain]
3. Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
in giving to all people, we receive,
and in dying that we're born to eternal life. [Refrain]