Be Happy!
07 September 2022, Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 6: 20-26
Why is Jesus telling us that those who are really happy/blessed are those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who weep and those who are persecuted? Isn’t it that the world tells us that happiness can be achieved if we have much, if we are full, if we have satisfaction and if we are praised by many?
I remember, when my mother died last year, I experienced extreme poverty. To experience death of a loved one is never a cause for joy. But I learned and have gained life’s greatest lesson. Such experience of tremendous loss made me realize my greatest need: God.
The Lucan version of Beatitudes does not praise poverty, does not tolerate greed which is one of the causes of hunger, does not justify injustices that make us weep and does not glorify those who make us suffer all the more. Jesus is telling us that if we are self-sufficient, there is no room for God in our lives. Jesus is telling us that if we do know how to empty ourselves with pride and ambitions, there is no way for God’s grace to work. Jesus is telling us that if we claim absolute autonomy from God, there is no way for God to make wonders in our lives. If we know everything, how can we approach life as a mystery? If we are full of ourselves, aren’t we becoming fools? If we experience God’s graciousness, we can be happy and blessed if we learn to empty ourselves. How?
First, let us recognize that all that we are, that we have and that we can do come from God’s goodness and love. We don’t deserve all of these. That’s is why we call this reality as grace. If we discover that grace is not something but Someone who has a name and face, Jesus, then, we can be Jesus to others as well.
Second, if we realize that we are self-sufficient, let us be willing to share our gifts as time, talents and treasures. If we live our giftedness like Jesus, the Eucharist that we daily celebrate does not remain a rite to perform but a faith to live. We are bread, blessed, broken and shared. As we become what we eat, we are being consumed by others who need God.
Third, let us bless others especially those who weep and mourn, those who are known as the last, the least and the lost. They, too, have the right to be happy and to be blessed because they are children of God. Our community extension services and our pastoral programs are not established to showcase our best practices for recognition and for accreditation but to give glory to God and for the salvation and liberation of humanity.
In the Magnificat, Mary said, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” Jesus must have learned from his own Mother how the poor can be blessed. We are blessed for having been chosen in spite and despite of our unworthiness and lowliness. May we be blessings for others who seek and even struggle to see God. Amen.
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