Mission Society of the Philippines

Homilies

6th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: ATTAINING EVERLASTING HAPPINESS

Lk 6:17; 20-26


THE NATIONAL ELECTION is still a few months away, but the “ads war” is already in full swing. The “campaign ads” show that each candidate is trying hard to convince the people that he is the true champion of the poor. The pictures of the poor, children and old, are graphically displayed in the ads. These candidates, for many years, have promised to alleviate the lives of the poor, without much progress and fulfillment. They have made many promises of instant blessings, without any indication or inclusion of suffering, even though in their heart they could not fulfill them. And sadly people would go after those who have the best promises, in the hope that they get instant benefit. Because of this, the Church warns them not to use the poor in their campaigns.

Poverty and blessedness are themes of today’s gospel and are found in the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes is a part of the gospel which is often encountered and heard during the holy Eucharistic celebrations, but we also often miss their meaning. Accordingly, it takes us a lifetime to learn the contents of their message. The Beatitudes explain how spend our life here on earth so that we could attain true and everlasting happiness in heaven. Now, to get to their meaning, there are three points that we should consider:

First, Jesus does not mean poverty and suffering to be values as such. God does not glorify poverty and suffering. In fact, in the Bible, poverty and suffering is considered evil. Yahweh is a God who sees the suffering of his people. He is also a God who hears the cry of the poor. And Yahweh does not want his people to remain in those situations. He freed the suffering people from slavery in Egypt. He has satisfied those who are hungry. In the New Testament, Jesus healed those who were suffering from various illnesses. He also fed those who were hungry. One mission of Jesus was the eradication of evil structures in the society.

Second, Jesus addresses the problem of riches and power. Wealth is not evil in itself because it contributes to the development of human persons. However, wealth and power are two greatest threats to Christian way of life. In a world full of competition, people adore success, and worship power. It is a way of saying that true happiness can be attained through riches, power, and comfort. But most people realize that this does not work. In fact, people in affluent countries are not known to be the happiest people. These are countries whose most people have suffered from depressions, and a big number have committed suicides. I remember that some of our countrywomen have married Asian husbands so that they could go and live with them abroad for “greener pastures.” Little did they know that literally they were sent to “greener pastures” and do farming. Now, they started to flee from their husbands. Thus, things just don’t work.

Third, when Jesus pronounced the poor and those who suffer as blessed, it is so because in their poverty and suffering, they have God to depend on. Due to their situation, the poor are not only in need of something, but also in need of Someone who can fully and truly satisfy them. In their material wants, the situation opens them up to another way of looking up at life. That allows or leads them to open their hearts to God, and they remain dependent on God. In that way, they can enter the kingdom of heaven.

True and everlasting happiness is a value. But this happiness cannot be found in the politicians “false” promises of instant blessings to the poor. Neither this happiness can be achieved through our worship to riches. The gospel reminds us that we should worship God, and God alone. True and everlasting happiness can only be had if we have God in our life. Therefore, we should remain poor before the eyes of God. In our poverty, material or spiritual, we always depend on and we are in need of Him. He is our everlasting joy!





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