Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

 

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) [Mt 5:17-37]

15.02.2026

Jesus’ New Law about Anger, Adultery, Divorce and Oaths

Readings: (1) Sir 15:15-20 (2) 1 Cor 2:6-10

1.    Theme in brief

Greater righteousness of a Christian disciple

2.    Focus Statement

Jesus calls us to live a life of greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees, in areas of human relationships, sexual behaviour, marital fidelity and truthfulness.

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel, Jesus says that he has not come to “abolish” the Old Testament Law but to “fulfil” it (5:17). The word “fulfil” means “to bring to its intended meaning” or to fill up what is lacking in it or to complete it. He neither contradicts nor replaces nor erases the Law. On the contrary, he gives it a new interpretation or meaning; or he intensifies, internalizes and radicalizes it. He focuses not only on external evil acts like murder, adultery, etc., but also on the internal attitudes and motives that lead to those acts. Thus he asks his listeners to undertake an internal and reverse journey in their minds from the act of murder to harbouring of anger or resentment, and from the act of adultery to harbouring of lust in their hearts.

Today’s gospel text shows how Jesus fulfils the Law that forbids murder, adultery, divorce and false swearing by going beyond the understanding it had in Judaism, or by deepening and radicalizing it. In other words, he fulfils the Law by extending/enlarging it beyond its letter to its spirit touching upon the inner attitudes of humans. He does it by repeatedly contrasting the narrow understanding of the OT (“You have heard it was said….,” 5:21,27,31,33) with his new and broader interpretation (“but I say to you….,”5:22,28,32,34). Biblical scholars call these statements that radicalize the OT teachings ‘antitheses’ (opposite) to OT ‘theses’ (teachings). In today’s gospel we find the following antitheses: An extension of the OT law that forbids (1) murder to include all sorts of anger, resentment and revenge (5:21-22); (2) adultery to include all lustful desires (5:27-28); (3) divorce to include life-long fidelity of the spouses to each other (5:31-32); and (4) false swearing to exclude all oaths altogether (5:33-36). Thus he teaches his disciples to address human tendency to nurse anger or resentment in the heart, honour one’s matrimonial promises and follow a path of absolute honesty and integrity.

By following this new meaning given to the Law, Jesus wants his disciples to live a life of righteousness or holiness that “exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” (5:20) in above-mentioned four areas. For him, anger already carries murder in the form of a germ. He wants his disciples to strike at the very root of murder which is in their tendency to nurse anger, hatred, resentment, aggressiveness, insult, revenge and all sorts of violent behaviour against others. According to him, a sort of killing is done by heart-piercing words, abusive language and name-calling. Calling our brothers and sisters ‘You fool’ (5:22) may not sound highly abusive in our culture; but in the Bible it means invoking a divine curse on our brothers/sisters.

Jesus advocates a remedy to hatred, resentment and vengeance – cultivating a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation (5:24). He says that any genuine worship or “offering our gifts at the altar” must be sustained by reconciliation of broken relationships with your brothers and sisters, if it has to be acceptable to the Lord (5:23-24). He says that the need of coming to terms with one’s opponent and taking concrete steps towards reconciliation are urgent before the matter further deteriorates and finally leads to a disaster like murder. He compares it to coming to terms with your accuser while still on the way to the court so that the judge may not throw you into prison (5:25).

Similarly, Jesus asks his disciples to strike at the root of committing adultery which can be traced to entertaining lustful desires in one’s heart; of divorce which is in marital infidelity. Further, he teaches that oaths and swearing are totally unnecessary and unwarranted if there is a general atmosphere of trust and honesty. They come into the picture because of human tendencies of lying, untruthfulness and dishonesty.

4.    Application to life

In today’s gospel, which is a part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we get a glimpse of the attitudes, intentions and motives a disciple needs to imbibe. He teaches us that we cannot be counted as citizens of a new society he had come to establish (called the Kingdom of Heaven or God) if we are content with only external observance of the Law like the Pharisees and fail to change or purify their inner (sinful) attitudes which are the roots of all evil actions. Whereas the Pharisees and scribes speak about fruits (evil actions), Jesus wants his disciples to strike at the roots, found in their hearts from which evil actions proceed.

Here Jesus proposes a new way of life that goes beyond the teachings of the OT, and a new righteousness that exceeds the one practiced by the scribes and Pharisees in the OT. He neither abolishes the Law, nor keeps it as it is. Thus he upholds the principle of a continuity of the old with a change, that is, with a new meaning added to it. He seeks to radicalize it by broadening and deepening its meaning. Thus he fulfils or fills up the missing meaning in it or completes it. For Jesus, LOVE is the supreme law and all other laws should be subordinated to it. According to him salvation is not guaranteed by mere external observance of law but by making love as our guiding principle in human relationships and keeping the spirit of the law instead of only the letter. The greater righteousness advocated by him under God’s Kingdom goes beyond external observation to include a change of attitudes and heart, and a purification of inner motives.

Among the four OT laws radicalized by Jesus in today’s gospel – namely, murder, adultery, divorce and oaths – let us take the first one: “You shall not murder”. According to him, just avoiding murder is not enough. Anger is the root of murder. When we overcome or master anger, murder or any violence becomes impossible. Neither ‘murder’ is done by knives, guns and terrorists’ bombs alone nor is violence present only in the bomb or in the killer’s gun. Rather. it is deeply rooted human heart. The fruits are seen when we nurse resentment and revenge against our offenders which goes for days, months and sometimes for years. According to Jesus the spirit of this fifth commandment goes much deeper than external act of murder – transformation of a bitter and vengeful heart in which it is rooted. The evil roots must be tackled (uprooted) so that the evil fruits will not emerge. We observe an atmosphere of all-prevailing violence in our society that causes a real threat to human life. Because of its omnipresence, experts speak of a culture of violence existing in our world today. Here the term ‘culture’ refers to attitudes and behaviour which accept violence as inevitable to solve human and social problems without considering its terrible consequences. In the midst of such an attitude, Jesus invites us to create a culture of active non-violence which is life-promoting. His teaching motivates us to take active steps to overcome violent tendencies within us and in our communities, instead of merely feeling sad about it.

We can do it in various ways, such as (1) by consciously cultivating non-violent language in our speech; (2) by following the path of non-aggressive behaviour in our personal lives; (3) by cooperating with so many good willed people in our world who promote non-violence; and (4) by promoting non-violent language and behaviour among children. I am shocked to hear about a video game played by children in their mobile phone: If you shoot down your neighbour’s dog you gain 50 points; if you shoot down your neighbour 100 points and if you shoot down your parents 200 points. See, how the culture of violence is subtly injected into the tender minds of children! Listen to the vulgar, abusive and violent language used by some people, including children – much worse than the words “You fool” used in today’s gospel (5:22). Think of the name-calling done on people of a different race or ethnic group in any society, and the domestic violence perpetrated against women and domestic helps. Our everyday language is full of violent words such as “bash”, “bang”, “smash”, “thrash”, etc. Many of us say: “So and so should be thoroughly hammered…. Shoot/ kick/ thrash him/her….”, etc. Often we approve and laugh over such language of spitting poison of bitterness when we hear others speaking against those who have wronged them. Children imitate it from their parents and companions.

When we read about the first murder recorded in the Bible – in the story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-16) – we come to know how Cain’s envy and anger towards his brother Abel ended up in hatred and cold-blooded murder. We have to admit that there is a Cain sitting inside of each one of us who broods over the wrong done by others, imagines and plans terrible things against those who have wronged or offended us. This Cain is nothing else but our own mind that gives in to aggressive and violent behaviour against our brothers and sisters. This story makes us deeply aware that there is something of the wild beast in all of us lurking at the door, but we must “master it” as the Bible says (Gen 4:7). If violence which is inherent in human nature is not contained or mastered, it will create havoc in human/social relationships and contribute to the all-prevailing culture of violence. Like Cain we too try to cover-up our guilt and refuse to accept responsibility for our violent behaviour by saying: "Am I my brother's keeper (Gen 4:9)?" God’s voice is clear to us: “Are you not responsible for your brothers and sisters? Are you not answerable to your God and society for the prevailing culture of violence in the world?”

Anger and resentment have roots in our rational nature. Rationally we brood over the injury or harm done, or hurt caused to us by evildoers/ adversaries and demand satisfaction for it. Violent and aggressive behaviour in words and deeds is a common means of dealing with injured pride. But the fact is, even after evildoers get their punishment, including imprisonment or capital punishment – as it happens in some serious court cases – people’s anger, hatred and revenge does not end. Let us take Jesus’ example. While undergoing the agony of crucifixion, Jesus made an excuse for the evil action of his crucifiers below the cross by praying for them to his Father with the words that they did not know what they were doing (Lk 23:34). Though they knew that they were crucifying an innocent man, he made an excuse for their action. Moved by this example, can we also admit our ignorance of the motives, background and emotional state of our offenders? We really do not know why so and so behaved with us in such a nasty manner, or was rude to us. Jesus lays down the principle of compassion for the weakness of such people which leads to forgiveness from the heart.

Jesus further instructs us to cultivate a spirit of forgiveness of and reconciliation with those who have offended us as well as those whom we have offended (5:23-26). This, according to him, is an indispensable precondition for Christian praise and worship. Worship of God cannot be performed by an impure heart infected with resentment, bitterness and revenge. He wants that true worship of the heart must be sustained by brotherly/sisterly love and reconciliation. He gives the example of an accused man taking step to reconcile with his accuser while on the way to the court (5:25-26), to emphasize the point that the offended party should take the first step towards reconciliation rather than the offender.

It is easier to offer sacrifices and attend religious services than to forgive an offender from one’s heart; is it not? It is easier to avoid committing an act of murder than removing anger, resentment, hatred and bitterness from the heart; is it not? Heart of hearts many of us are happy that we have never committed murder and adultery; hence are righteous or holy before God. But today’s gospel asks those of us who consider ourselves righteous and “spiritual-minded” to answer this question: “Have you not ‘murdered’ the good reputation of your opponents/ offenders/ adversaries through defamation, slander, character assassination and using abusive language against them? By spitting venom against them and going after their blood, have you not ‘murdered’ them in your heart? How many people have you stabbed, not in the front but in the back?”

Harbouring hatred is also serious enough because murder is conceived by hatred.  There are people who nurse so much hatred in the heart that they would have preferred to murder their opponents or enemies. But they refrain from doing so because of fear of punishment (from God or from the court of law), social stigma and losing social respectability.  Hatred and crying for vengeance is like committing murder in one’s heart. Does Jesus’ teaching that we should reconcile with our opponents and enemies before we begin to worship God or offer our gifts on the altar make any church-goer return half the way? Of course, we need not take it literally. But Jesus asks us to examine how many times and how often we have offered our gifts on the altar with all resentment, vengeance, enmity and hatred in our heart.

Again, what is the use if we pat ourselves on the back saying that we have never committed adultery, but continue to lust after other men or women, and become slaves to cyber-sex or pornography in the media especially in the internet?

5.    Response to God's Word

Do our religious practices influence our inner attitudes and motives? Do we nurse resentment and revenge against our offenders and refuse to talk with them for days, months and sometimes for years? Do we feel we too are directly or indirectly responsible for the prevailing culture of violence in the world? What steps we would like to take to promote a culture of active non-violence? Is our worship sustained by brotherly/sisterly love and reconciliation?

6.    A prayer

Purify our hearts and inner attitudes, O Lord. Teach us the language of love and the need to cultivate diligently non-violent and non-aggressive communication. Give us courage and humility to overcome the prevailing culture of violence in our world by seeking the path of forgiveness and reconciliation. Amen.

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

 

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) [Mt 5:13-16]

08.02.2026

The Call of Disciples as Salt and Light

Readings: (1) Is 58:7-10 (2) 1 Cor 2:1-5

1.    Theme in brief

Our vocation to season human society and light up the world

2.    Focus Statement

A Christian disciple is called to give taste or flavour to human society, preserve it from evil of corruption and be pure like salt; and be a light shining from a high place in the darkness of our world.

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel Jesus explains the vocation and mission of his disciples in the world or human society with emphatically repeated words, “you (my disciples) are called to be salt and light”. He uses three metaphors to explain their vocation or role: (1) to be salt of the earth; (2) city built on a hill; and (3) light of the world (5:13-14). Jesus does not tell his disciples to become like salt or light, as many of us understand his saying. They already are salt and light by their faith in him. Now they have to manifest what they already are. How? Of course, by exhibiting the qualities of salt and light in their personal conduct, so that their life may become a witness for him and bring glory to their Father in heaven (5:16).

The qualities of salt are these: (1) purity because of its white colour (if it is “salt of the earth,” that is,  rock-salt extracted from the mines); (2) giving taste/flavour to food, or seasoning food; and (3) preserving food (especially meat and fish) from decay or corruption. Jesus tells his disciples not to lose their saltiness or taste; instead always be true to their vocation to remain ‘salty.’ He warns them if they lose their seasoning and preservative qualities, they become useless disciples like insipid salt that is thrown out and trampled under foot (5:13). Not only here, but in some other parts of the gospel too Jesus upholds this dictum: Uselessness or fruitlessness always invites disaster or rejection (cf. Lk 13:9; Jn 15:6).

Secondly, the disciples are like a city built on a hill or mountain that cannot be hidden. If this is true about ancient cities, how much more about modern ones. In modern age such cities or towns, far from hiding, marvellously shine even from a far distance especially aat night with all types of electrical illumination. Jesus says that his disciples cannot hide their faith. If they practice the beatitudes that were proclaimed in last Sunday’s gospel (Mt 5:1-12), their life-style, behaviour and action will be clearly visible to others.

The thiird metaphor of light used by Jesus symbolizes the following: (1) a thing that shines in such a way that it can be seen by others; (2) a medium through which darkness is dispelled; (3) that which reveals what is hidden; (4) that which shows or guides the way, or becomes a beacon. Now we can understand that Jesus gives his disciples a mission to light up the world, dispel its darkness, reveal God’s presence through their lives and guide others to God’s ways or his values. Jesus further speaks about the foolishness of lighting a lamp and covering it up with a basket instead of putting it on a high place such as a lampstand, so that all can see its light (5:15). It is clear that our light is meant for shining before people and not for hiding.

The ultimate purpose of shining their light is to draw attention to God who is at work in and through their “good deeds”. Their good conduct or deeds are like a light shining from a high place attracting people and bringing glory not to themselves but to God (5:16).

4.    Application to life

In the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-10), Jesus has already given the blueprint of an exemplary Christian discipleship. In today’s gospel he uses three metaphors to describe the disciples who practice the norms laid down in the Beatitudes. They are compared to salt of the earth, city built on a hill and light of the world. Their vocation is to give taste to unsavoury situations, light up the dark areas and shine brightly so that they are seen from afar. These metaphors are a beautiful reflection on the true value, preciousness and privileged nature of our Christian vocation. Our vocation lays upon us a tremendous responsibility for the world. As disciples, we are called to live out our identity in the world by exhibiting the nature of salt and light.

First of all, as salt, all our motives and intentions must be pure. Secondly, like salt, we have to add joy to our daily work and give taste to tasteless situations in our lives. We are to constantly reflect how we can bring joy into our life in the midst of routine and monotony of doing the same work every day. To add flavour to this situation, we are to radiate joy and optimism in the midst of hardships. Thirdly, we are called to improve the quality of human life by improving the quality of our service and contributions to human society. We are to make life tasty not only for ourselves but also for others. Just as people add salt to food to make it tasty, we are called to add value and quality to the world or to human lives. If we ourselves lose quality of life, how can we bring quality in others’ life? Fourthly, like salt, we are called to preserve our society from moral corruption, evil and ungodly ways.

Neither salt nor light exist for themselves. The purpose of salt and light is met only when they are used, poured out and spent. Similarly, neither Christ’s disciples nor the Church exist for their own sake but for the world’s. As explained above, salt has three main qualities: seasoning, purifying and preserving. Salt keeps food from being insipid and preserves it from corruption. In order to give taste, salt must come into contact with food. Similarly, a Christian must touch the issues and concerns of humans and their society in order to give taste to it, and preserve it from corruption and decay.

If table-salt is kept in a nice sprinkler on the table, it doesn’t do any good. When it is sprinkled on food and gets dissolved into it, it adds taste. Similarly, if light is covered and kept hidden, it cannot show anything to anybody. Only when it is brought out in a dark place, it can brighten up the area. The purpose of our Christian vocation is to fulfil our mission to sprinkle salt all over our society. Far from non-involvement, we are called to influence every sphere of human society – social, economic, political and cultural – with the values of the gospel. Instead of compromising with sin or evil of the world, our mission is to save the world from sin.

In the given gospel text, actually Jesus does not say that we should become “the salt of the earth” and “light of the world,” but we are.... By our baptism, we are already salt, city on hilltop and light. Jesus motivates and challenges us to live out this vocation in the modern world and show in our conduct what we have already become. Hence, we have to manifest to the world who we actually are by staying salty. The word used for “losing taste” or becoming “tasteless” in original language (Greek) literally means “to become foolish.” Christians who do not stay salty or lose their saltiness are making fools of themselves. Instead of being salt of the earth, they tend to be “sugar of the earth.” Salt has a bite of its own, especially when it is applied on a fresh wound. We are called to stay ‘salty’ even when others oppose us for this quality. We should resist the temptation to make the gospel either a sugar-coated cake or salt-free potato chips. We can season the earth only when we live a sugar-free gospel and sprinkle sufficient salt on our ‘potato chips,’ that is, our life and social situation.

By the example of our lives we are called to preserve the world from total moral corruption and decay. By our influence and personal and communitarian example, we save the world from universal evil. We are called to purify human society from corruption in mass media, commerce, politics, public life, and even within the Church. We have an obligation to arrest corruption in our society by our own purity. We are called to exert a moral influence on our society.

Jesus warns that there is a possibility that salt may lose its saltiness or salty taste or value. Losing zeal, vigour and enthusiasm is also like losing savour. How do we lose our saltiness or taste? Or, let us put the question positively: How can we give taste? We can do it by (1) our positive and optimistic way of thinking; (2) showing enthusiasm and zeal for life and service; (3) radiating joy; (4) showing a taste or interest in God or in spiritual matters and leading others to develop a taste for spiritual values; and (4) avoiding destructive criticism and tendencies to become prophets of gloom or doom; etc. In the beginning of any new venture, job or entering into a new state of life, we show a lot of initial enthusiasm, but our fervour dies after some time. When we show a lack of zeal, vitality and joy in our behaviour and action, we become tasteless or flavourless Christians. Jesus says that such flavourless disciples are useless, and may be rejected by the world. So we have to ask whether we are worthwhile or worthless Christians.

 Christ is the light of the world (Jn 8:12). As bearers of his light, we too are the light that shines in the darkness of the world. In other words, we are called to be a beacon (light in a high place) in the midst of darkness, chaos, unrest and sadness. Yes, we must be a beacon of truth in a world of sin, dishonesty and falsehood. Today, Jesus makes us aware that, as his disciples, it is not enough to attend devotions, novenas, retreats and healing sessions without any concern for darkness in the world. Our world, in spite of being basically good, has enough of darkness in it. People who often suffer the darkness of evil in the world get frustrated. Just as the light burns for others, we live not only for ourselves, but for others by flashing our light in darkened areas. Like the sun, we radiate the light of love, service and truth to all around us.

Jesus tells us to shed light of faith, hope, charity, mercy, peace, justice and honesty or truthfulness amidst darkness that negates these values. He tells us to light up our workplace, family and neighbourhood with these values. Bribery, injustice, exploitation, widespread violence and so many other evils lead the society to decay. Unless there are some people to uphold moral purity and preservative quality of salt, this decay will be worse. Therefore, we should not forget to penetrate human society with the sprinkle of a little bit of salt wherever we go and work. When we dilute the message of Christ and compromise with evil, or fail to live according to our Christian vocation we become insipid (flavourless). Then we lose our opportunity to bear testimony to Christ which is like losing our flavour and becoming useless disciples.  

Both the metaphors of a city built on hill and a lamp put on an elevated place emphasize the fact that our Christian vocation is not purely a private affair, but is of public nature. As followers of Christ we are not secret agents. As nobody dreams of putting a light under a bushel, we have to be sure that the reason for our existence as Christians is to give light to those who surround us. Our faith is not meant for hiding; it must be shown not so much by the cross we wear on our chests, but in our good conduct or loving service. In the area where I work as a missionary, a number of villages are called ‘Tongritoli’ or ‘Pahartoli’ (meaning a village on a hill or mountain). Can such villages hide from being seen from far? We are often tempted to hide our light in the following manner: by not speaking when we must tell the truth; by compromising with the values of the world; by colluding with the evil; by closing our eyes on the needs of others, especially of the poor; etc.

If we really want to be salt and light, we must behave and act differently from the general current of our society. People notice it. They may even ask us: “Why do you behave differently? Why don’t you follow the crowd?” Whenever we bear witness to Christ through our good conduct and works of mercy others recognize Christ in us and it becomes the cause of giving glory to our heavenly Father and not to ourselves. If so, where is the place for arrogance, working for one’s own name and fame or taking credit for oneself?

5.    Response to God's Word

Are we really living out our vocation and mission as Christian disciples? How do we fulfill our call to manifest “saltiness” in our workplace, neighbourhood, family and community? What are the dark areas in our family life, friendships, work relations, and neighbourhood? Do we try to make our Christian identity visible through our good conduct or keep our faith in hiding? Are our motives pure, or selfish and insincere? Do we withdraw from good work when people reject, ridicule and oppose us because of our ‘salty’ nature? Do we succumb to public pressure to accept corrupt ways of the world? In the past, when and how did we hide our faith?

6.    A prayer

O Lord, give us the courage to preserve our society from moral corruption, evil and ungodly ways. As bearers of your light, grant that we may shine brightly in the darkness of the world. Give us the grace not to hide our light out of fear of opposition and criticism. May we attract people to you by our good conduct or deeds and bring glory to you. Amen.

 

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

 

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) [Mt 5:1-12]

01.02.2026

The Beatitudes

Readings: (1) Zeph 2:3; 3:12-13 (2) 1 Cor 1:26-31

1.    Theme in brief

Jesus’ vision of true and internal happiness

2.    Focus Statement

True and internal joy called “blessedness” does not lie in wealth, pleasure, power and popularity, but in acquiring the attitudes and living the values of God’s Kingdom that are outlined by Jesus in his Beatitudes.

3.    Explanation of the text

Today’s gospel is something like Jesus’ Inaugural Address according to Matthew after announcing the main theme of his teaching and preaching in last Sunday’s gospel, that is, “the Kingdom of Heaven (God) has come near” (4:17). In the first part of his Sermon on the Mount (5:1), traditionally called the Eight Beatitudes, Jesus outlines the principles that govern this Kingdom and lays out his vision of life in this Kingdom. His vision goes absolutely contrary to the mentality and values of the world. If the world thinks the rich are the most fortunate ones, he says the poor in spirit are fortunate, etc. Whereas the world applauds and rewards the selfish, powerful, aggressive, arrogant and corrupt people, Jesus pronounces blessings on the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and the thirsty for righteousness, the pure in heart and the persecuted. In each of the beatitudes he declares those people blessed who are usually regarded by the world as miserable, wretched and timid.

Jesus uses the words “blessed are those…” eight times (5:3-10), and “blessed are you…” once (5:11) in today’s text. Though the word “blessed” is commonly translated as “happy,” it transcends the normal connotation of happiness; that is, being delighted, or being in a good mood, cheerfulness, and having a pleasurable feeling. It is a state in which one finds oneself being really fortunate because of the inner joy and peace that comes from being righteous or upright in God’s sight. The blessedness mentioned in this text is about serenity and inner peace and joy that is independent of what happens to us externally – a joy which cannot be taken away by sorrow, loss, pain and even death. Whereas worldly joy can come and go with fortune and success, this joy cannot be lost with the change of fortune or failure of our plans. That is why this blessedness can be experienced even under intense persecution. Jesus says that true and inner joy does not lie in abundance of wealth, success, pleasure, power, prestige and popularity, but in living or putting into practice the values of God’s Kingdom.

According to the Eight Beatitudes outlined in today’s gospel,  this sort of internal joy comes from acquiring the following attitudes and principles and trying to live by them:

1) To be poor in spirit means to acknowledge one’s utter helplessness and put one’s whole trust not in possessions or material things but only in God. It means acquiring a spirit of detachment from worldly wealth and becoming conscious of one’s total dependence on God (5:3);

2) To mourn means to Express solidarity with the broken-hearted of human society by weeping with those who weep, and by expressing sorrow for one’s own sins and the sins of the world (5:4);

3) To be meek means to keep one’s passions and aggressive or violent instincts under control, and cultivate non-aggressive behaviour or action (5:5);

4) To hunger and thirst for righteousness meand to long for justice and holiness just as one longs for food when very hungry (5:6);

5) To be means to feel one with the feelings/ pain/ joy/ troubles/ needs/ problems of others with a compassionate heart (5:7);

6) To be pure in heart means to purify one’s motives and intentions so that they do not become totally selfish, dubious, ulterior and adulterated (5:8);

7) To be peacemakers means to be promote and build up peace and reconciliation among people (5:9);

8) To be pesecuted for Christ’s sake means to suffer for justice or righteousness and for his gospel-values; as well as willingness to undergo persecution for his sake (5:10).

After listing the eight beatitudes, Jesus changes the words “blessed are those” into “blessed are you” in 5:11. This verse is not traditionally added to the list of beatitudes not only because of the change of words but also because it only explains further the eighth beatitude by applying it directly to the persecution suffered by the early Church for the sake of Christ.  Since he himself is going to suffer a death on the cross for his faithfulness to God, he calls his followers to be willing to suffer persecution for their faithfulness to him.

To sum up, what Jesus says here is: How fortunate are those who live a life of detachment from material possessions and depend totally on God; those who mourn over evil in their personal lives as well as in the world; those who are meek in admitting their sins and failures and follow a non-aggressive path; those who are hungry for God’s justice and holiness; those who are merciful towards the needy; those who are pure in their intentions and dealings; those are peace-lovers and peacemakers, not peace-breakers; those who go through rejection, persecution, trials and abuse for his sake. According to him, true and internal joy comes from acquiring the attitudes and following the principles befitting the citizens of God’s Kingdom.

4.    Application to life

Beatitudes are the right attitudes one must have in order to be the disciples of Christ. In today’s gospel, Jesus calls for an exemplary Christian discipleship lived according to the following norms laid down by him in his eight beatitudes, and promises rewards for such a conduct:

The first norm is to be poor in spirit. Jesus says that those who possess a spirit of detachment from worldly wealth and always are conscious of their total dependence on God are truly and internally joyful. This beatitude prompts us to humble ourselves and accept that we are helpless and hopeless sinners before God. It calls us to acquire an attitude of total dependence on God and refrain from all sorts of arrogance, self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. All of us, whether  materially rich or poor, have to admit that we are “spiritually poor,” and are totally in need of God’s gift of salvation. When we do this, our reward is God himself becoming the only ruler of our hearts; that is, in the technical language of today’s gospel, the Kingdom of heaven becomes ours (5:3). This beatitude makes us question who or what is our ultimate security; whether it is God or somebody or something else.

The second norm is to mourn over evil in ourselves and in the world, or over any disaster such as an accident, loss of valuable life at death, loss of one’s possessions, name and health due to serious illness. In such situations, our mourning is not only because of physical or mental pain caused by these misfortunes but also mainly for our sinfulness that often causes suffering. When we do this, the reward promised by Jesus is, we will be comforted by God himself who is our hope and who will definitely save us sooner or later (5:4). This makes us question whether we mourn for our own sins and the sins of the world; whether we share our neighbours’ pains and sorrows; and whether we go to comfort the broken-hearted of our society.

The third norm is to practice meekness that becomes visible in one’s gentleness and self-control. Meekness does not mean weakness of character but refraining from exploitation of the weak and the marginalized. It implies a non-aggressive and non-violent behaviour. The reward promised to these people is an inheritance of the earth (5:5). In the OT it means the Promised Land and in the NT, the bliss of heaven. This norm leads us to examine whether we regularly try to tame something of the animal lurking inside each one of us, just waiting to pounce at our opponents; and whether we constantly try to cultivate a non-aggressive and non-violent behaviour in the midst of so much violence in our world today.

The fourth norm is to acquire a hunger and thirst, an intense longing, desire or passion for righteousness, justice and truth. This beatitude makes us question whether we are found right or just before God and do justice for others. It calls us to acquire a greater sensitivity to injustice and unrighteousness in the world. The reward promised here is God himself who will to satisfy our spiritual hunger by doing justice to us (5:6).

The fifth norm is to show mercy to the suffering and the needy as well as the sinners. We are called to be merciful to others because we have received mercy from the Lord in all our needs, insufficiencies and inadequacies, and also have received forgiveness from him umpteen times. The reward promised here is a gift of mercy from the Lord for being merciful towards others (5:7). This beatitude makes us question whether we are doing any work of mercy for the needy and the suffering; and whether we show mercy towards those who sin against us or against others.

The sixth norm is to be pure in heart. Jesus tells us to constantly purity our thoughts and intentions so that they are not contaminated by evil or impure motives. This calls upon us to constantly strive to purify our minds from all worldly impurities, sinful desires and dubious or ulterior motives. The reward promised here is the ability to “see God” (5:8) here on earth with the eyes of faith and hereafter in heaven.

The seventh norm is to be peacemakers. Those who work to bring about reconciliation of broken relationship with God and with one another in human society are called blessed because such people actively promote one of the important aspects of God’s Kingdom. They try to build bridges of understanding, remove hatred, reconcile people in conflict with one another, bring together adversaries and try to seal divisions. The reward promised to these disciples is such a unique and close relationship with God because of which they will be called the children of God or belonging to the family of God (5:9).

The eighth norm is about a disciple’s willingness to persecution for righteousness’ sake (5:10). As in the days of early Church, even today those who live by the norms of these beatitudes, that is, those who stand for justice, those who work for peace, those who are meek, etc, will face criticism, opposition, intimidation, attacks and even martyrdom, This continues to happen in one or other parts of the Church even today in a bigger scale, and happens within our own families and communities in a smaller scale.

A thought may come up in our minds: Who can attain so high ideals outlined by Jesus in these beatitudes? We think only saints can practice them. Since we find these ideals too hard to practice we do not even give it a try. In spite of that, all of us are called to aim at the path of the beatitudes. Whenever we put any of these values into practice even in a small way, we should be happy that we too are following the path of blessedness or holiness. But since as humans we often fail to live up to these high ideals, we should always regret for not having done our best to advance in holiness. These high ideals give us the satisfaction of having done something whenever we put them into practice, but not having done our best. Surely, the rewards assured by the Lord spur us on.

Sadly enough, today, we have so many short-cut methods or ways contrary to these norms to attain momentary happiness and temporary relief such as habitual or addictive use of drugs, alcohol, sex, T.V., cell phones, internet, etc. Sooner or later we come to the realization that lasting and internal happiness cannot be attained by these. When we trust only in wealth, or do not admit our mistakes or sinfulness, do not comfort those who weep and suffer, compromise with worldly standards, become peace-breakers instead of peacemakers, we can never experience internal joy and fulfilment.  If we are not really happy, we have to ask ourselves why we are not. Do our principles and methods to attain happiness coincide with Christ’s? They are inner dispositions of disciples that should influence their outward behaviour. The attitudinal change required by these beatitudes has to take place first of all in our relationship with God which in turn will influence our relationship with fellow human beings.

5.    Response to God's Word

As Christ’s disciples, do we place our full security in God? Do we mourn over the miseries and sins of the world and share our neighbours’ pains? Are we humble enough to admit our sins and mistakes? Are we compassionate towards the needs of the deprived and the marginalized? Do we work to build bridges and bring reconciliation between warring and divided groups or persons? Do we stand for Christ’s values even when there is criticism, opposition, ridicule and persecution?

6.    A prayer

O holy God, send on us your Holy Spirit to give us the courage and strength to practice the values outlined in the Beatitudes and experience internal joy and peace. Amen.