All of us are in search of happiness. And the society around us offers a different formula for finding it. A long-term research of the Harvard University across generations reveals that 80 percent of young people seek happiness in wealth and possessions; 50 percent seek to find happiness in popularity or fame.
A great majority of people strive for achievements in life. But experience has shown us that the attainment of these goals do not bring us the happiness we seek. They still leave us feeling empty.
We feel that if we have this or that, we would be happy.
If I get accepted to my favorite school… I'll be happy. If get that job… I'll be happy. If I win the lotto… I'll be happy. If I marry that charming girl (or that rich guy)… I'll be happy. If I become a millionaire… I'll be happy.
Our society offers us many formulas for happiness. Yet, in the end we are not really happy. We are not satisfied. We find that once we achieved what we desired, we still find ourselves empty.
Something is lacking. We don't find the happiness we're looking for. In the Beatitudes in the Gospel reading today, Jesus gives us the his instructions for a happy life. Here Jesus gives us the specific things we need to do to get the most out of living our faith and do really a good job.
Biblical scholar Joachim Jeremias tells us that the Sermon on the Mount comes out of the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection. God's gift of grace comes first. Then we receive the call to live righteous lives.
Jeremias concludes that "the Sermon is not law, but Gospel" - good news. And what response are we to make to these sayings of Jesus? They're beautiful and consoling words -
Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for their faith.
God's wonderful gifts are promised to them. These are idealistic words we expect to hear in church on Sunday. But what do they mean on Monday morning and the rest of the week?
Doesn't it seem stupid to say, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth" when we are seeing so many homeless people in our streets.
A family being ejected from their home by some wealthy family asked me why our justice system is always on the side of the rich and influential. In this world no one gets ahead by being meek and poor in spirit. The merciful usually get trampled in a dog-eat-dog world. The pure in heart seem naïve in the moral relativism of today's permissive society.
The more realistic statements might be "Money talks" and "It's not what you know but who you know." The bottom line is profit and success. I'm not saying I agree, but isn't this what you often hear?
But how do the Beatitudes really work out in the lives of Jesus' disciples then and now? Consider the original crowd around Jesus, the ones he called. They were peasants, fishermen, and one tax-collector, which also meant that he was a collaborator with the Romans and a taker of bribes. There were no educators among them; Paul, who joined the original Twelve, is the first intellectual.
Jesus himself came from obscurity and had none of the power and wealth of the world. And yet this powerless crew turned the world upside down.
The God who loves us and calls us to discipleship is a God of surprises. God doesn't act the way we would expect. God chooses to work through the poor and the meek and the peacemakers and the sorrowing and those who are powerless.
Some years ago Charles Rann Kennedy wrote a powerful drama called "The Terrible Meek." This one act play contrasts the power of the Roman Empire with the power of Jesus.
On that first Good Friday, a struggle rages within the centurion, the soldier in charge of the crucifixion. He senses the two kinds of power, one seen in the Empire and the other in Jesus. He concludes that the strange power of Jesus "will shake all the empires and kingdoms of the world into dust."
Jesus and his followers are "the terrible meek, the fierce, agonizing meek."
Today's first reading, from the prophecy of Zephaniah also affirms the surprising ways in which God works. Zephaniah condemns the wealthy and powerful of his day for their immorality and corruption. Only the anawim, the poor and humble of the land, who follow God's command may be spared from the terrible judgment.
Christian life is a response to God's grace, which is like the Beatitudes, even though we are not always sure precisely what Jesus meant by each of these sayings. For example, there are more than one interpretations of "poor in spirit" advanced by scholars. One is that "poor in spirit" means not being proud or haughty but rather one who is humble and trusting in God.
However, some argue that "poor in spirit" means "dispirited people, those who are so beaten down by the circumstances of life that they are not pious."
So, Jesus is expressing God's loving concern for the "dispossessed and abandoned people of the world in general." Broken in spirit. Poor in spirit.
So there are more than one interpretation of "poor in spirit." Any one may be right; as is often the case with the Scriptures, it depends upon a person's need, one's experience of the truth in a particular situation. We are called to live humbly as servants of one another, championing the cause of justice, and always trusting in the grace of God which comes to us through Jesus Christ.
Jesus' sermon on the Beatitudes gives us the truth. Jesus begins with "Blessed are you…" Jesus promises you happiness now and you don't have to wait until you get that million or become a celebrity. You don't even have to wait until you die to be happy.
Happiness is what you are, not what you have. It doesn't matter if you're sickly or healthy, rich or poor, strong or weak, a superstar in basketball or a computer wizard, have crooked teeth or a stunning beauty, own the latest model of laptop or a beat up old bike. Being a follower of Christ gives you the grace to be happy now.
Faith in God is not lived in an empty vacuum. Nor can it be separated from our everyday lives. Like yeast in bread, faith affects all areas of life, seeking formation in the image and likeness of God in which we are made. Every thought, word and action, no matter how small the world may judge them to be, is magnified and glorified by God's grace and mercy, so our good works blossom into miracles of grace.
The Beatitudes challenge us to take God and each other seriously. And what they give us are specific actions, concrete ways of living the Gospel in the ordinary situations and challenges of our lives. They are ideals and goals that point to the path of holiness, the stuff of saints.
The Prayer of St. Francis expresses beautifully the spirit of the Beatitudes:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.