Gospel of Matthew 5:1-12

Every body wants to be happy. The problem is that what people think will bring them happiness does not in fact always bring them true happiness. Think of the drunkard who believes that happiness is to be found in a beer bottle. Then, driving home after one bottle too much, he crashes into another car and wakes up in a hospital with plaster and stitches all over his body. Then he realizes that the happiness he imagined alcohol would give him was an illusion. Take the case of a gambler who frequents the casino. By the end of a month, he finds that his account is in the red and that he can no longer pay the mortgage on his house. Creditors hound him until he loses his house. Like the poor drunk, he realizes that the happiness he craved at the casino was fake.

The gospel word for happiness is “blessedness.” Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, shows His followers what true and lasting happiness is; the happiness that the world cannot give. This state of happiness is what Jesus calls the “kingdom of heaven”. It is not to be found outside us; in alcohol or in gambling; but inside us; in these blessed attitudes called the beatitudes.

Why does Jesus establish these beatitudes of the kingdom right from the very start of His public ministry? Surely it is because of their importance. Everybody seeks happiness. But too often, people search for it in all the wrong places. Just ask people around you what makes them happy and compare the answers you get with the answers Jesus gives. The world has its own idea of happiness you will find out.

Where Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” the world might say: “Blessed are the rich.” Where Jesus says: “Blessed are those who mourn” the world might say: “Blessed are those having fun.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek” the world might say “Blessed are the smart.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” the world might say “Blessed are those who are indifferent.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful” the world might say “Blessed are the powerful.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart” the world might say “Blessed are the devious.” Where Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers” the world might say “Blessed are the trouble makers.” And where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” the world might say “Blessed are those who can pay for the best lawyers.”

We see that the prescriptions for happiness by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are counter-cultural. How can you accept the beatitudes of Jesus and at the same time accept all the values of the society in which you live. Jesus does not demand that we abandon the world that God created. He asks that we put the beatitudes first in our lives because only God can guarantee the true happiness of our hearts. Nothing in the world can give us this happiness, and nothing in the world can take it away from us if we trust in the Lord.

The question for us today is this: “Do we seek happiness following the values of the world or do we live by the beatitudes of Jesus.

If you live by the beatitudes of Jesus, then “be happy and glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy