4th Sunday Ordinary Time
Zep 2:3, 3:12-13; 1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12aTrue Beatitudes – False Beatitudes
“The Sermon on the Mount” or “The Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven” summarizes most concretely the message of Jesus Christ in the Gospel. And the “Beatitudes” are precisely the basic foundation of this “Sermon on the Mount”.
It is unavoidable for us as human beings to ask this question which arises from our survival instinct: how could poverty, meekness, mourning, hunger & thirst, and persecution be considered blessings? Is Jesus trying to lull those who are poor and suffering, as once declared by Karl Marx, that Christianity tries to justify poverty and preaches cowardice, self-contempt, submission,…which corrupt the spirit from fighting against oppression. Could this be true?
Based on what can we assert that poverty, sorrow, and suffering are blessed conditions when in reality, these seems to be “misfortunes” that need to be eradicated?
A scholar made this logical observation: It is based on Jesus Christ, because He himself was living proof of poverty, meekness, hunger & thirst, mercy and purity, peace and suffering for the sake of righteousness.
It was not because He’s trapped in a hopeless situation that He had to suffer, it was a choice He made, freely and willingly, so that He might be the model of blessedness for all mankind. For example, at one tim, the devil came to Jesus and said: “If you prostrate yourself and bow down to me, I will give you all the glory and riches of the world.” Jesus could have been very rich and ruled the whole world. Yet He refused to worship the “father of lies”.
On another occasion, after Jesus multiplied the loaves of bread for the people to eat, they wanted to make him king. Being king brings great honor and glory, yet the Gospel wrote that “Jesus went away up on the mountain”. Why did he go away? Perhaps He was trying to affirm that the most important and precious thing in life is not found in material wealth, fame, glory, strength, nor power; but it is found in God. Whoever chooses God and places total trust in Him is most blessed. The Psalm confirms this: “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord”. Why? Because when they place their trust in God:
“They are like a tree planted near streams of water,
That yields its fruit in season;
Its leaves never wither;
Whatever they do prospers”. (Ps 1:3)
To prosper in all our work is truly the blessing reserved for those who choose God as their reason for living and for walking the righteous path of the Good News, eventhough the road is rough, narrow, and filled with hardship, sweat and blood. If we follow the Lord and try to imitate Him, we are truly blessed; however, for those who did the opposite, although it might look like they’re successful, rich, happy, and safe, they in fact remain the miserable.Recently, the press has been buzzing about Demi Moore, a famous actress who was married to Bruce Willis, who is also a Hollywood superstar. Although very rich and famous, Demi is presently living in a state of guilt and anxiety. The reason is because she used to pose nude for Playboy magazine before she became a movie star. Wanting to erase traces of her shameful past, Demi spent large amount of money to purchase the original negatives of her Playboy pictures. However, some of those pictures continue to be posted on the Internet, this is very upsetting for her and causes her a great deal of concern. Part of her worries has to do with having her good name and career tarnished, but more importantly, Demi is afraid that one day, her three young children, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah will see the naughty pictures of their mom on the internet and will be teased by their friends. Demi does not want her innocent children to be ashamed of her. She said: “My biggest wish is to find a way to get a hold of all those pictures and throw them in the burning fire so that they will be destroyed completely”. Demi also said she doesn’t feel proud at all when people compliment her as being perfectly beautiful, because she had made a big mistake in posing nude for the camera in order to become famous and rich.
We might think that to be so rich, so beautiful, and adored by so many people would make a person very happy indeed. But how much happiness can you get when your conscience keeps on tormenting you day by day. Is this a blessed life or a life of misery? And so, there are many things in life we might see as blessings and happiness, but once we achieve these things, we come to realize that they made us feel guilty, unsettled, dirty, and ashamed…because of our wrongful desires.
Therefore, we can only receive true happiness when we yearn for God and his righteousness. We can only experience real peace and contentment when we walk the way of the cross in the Gospel. We can only taste true joy when we bravely resist and conquer our worldly desires.
There is a story about Jesus’ preaching the Beatitudes to the people, and as a result, so many entered heaven, so Satan came up with a plan to introduce his own version of the
“false beatitudes” to attract the people. His “false beatitudes” are as followed:1st – “blessed” are those who work tirelessly to make money regardless of fairness and charity, because my kingdom awaits them.
2nd - “blessed” are those who hold a grudge, who cause division, and insult others, because they are glorifying my name.
3rd - “blessed” are those who don’t have time to pray, nor make sacrifices, because they become delicious prey to hell.
4th - “blessed” are those who are tired of doing good works, those who avoid practicing virtues, nor receiving the sacraments, despair shall be theirs.
5th - “blessed” are they who have no compassion and don’t want to help those in need, they shall be called my disciples.
6th - “blessed” are they who squander away their money on carnal pleasure and adulterers who divorce their spouse, for they shall see my face.
7th - “blessed” are those who often argue and are jealous of others, they shall be called my children.
8th - “blessed” are those who take part in destroying the lives of the unborn, they shall inherit hell.It is much easier to achieve Satan’ s false beatitudes than the true beatitudes of Jesus. The road to heaven is always more narrow and harder to travel than the wide open road leading to hell. When we follow Jesus courageously, we allow ourselves to receive the source of true happiness and life in its fullness.
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