4TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME - A

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

Mt 5: 1-12a

The gospel for this Sunday is the Sermon on the Mount. In this section of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is presented again as the new Moses. Moses went up the mountain to receive the Law. Jesus goes up the mountain to present to his disciples a vision of life for those who wish to follow him. The Law of Moses is contained in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. In this section we find the first of the five long discourses that correspond to the five books of Moses. The five long discourses are:

• The "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5:3-7:27)
• The missionary discourse (Matthew 10:5-42)
• The parable discourse (Matthew 13:3-52)
• The "church order" discourse (Matthew 18:3-35), and
• The eschatological discourse (Matthew 24:4-25:46)

We find in Luke a parallel to the Sermon on the Mount. It is called the Sermon on the Plain. Instead of the 8 Beatitudes, Luke has a list of “4 blessings and 4 curses” (Lk 6: 20-26).

v. 1. When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

The mountains are believed to be places where God is especially present. It was in Sinai that God gave the Law to Moses. It was in Mt. Tabor that the disciples saw the divine glory of Jesus and heard the voice of the Father.

Jesus sits down. It is a position of authority, in this case of teaching authority. When the Pope preaches, he is seated. When he proclaims a truth of faith and morals with full teaching authority, he is said to be teaching ex cathedra, from the chair.

v. 3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed” is a combination of being happy AND fortunate. In Greek it is “makarios”. In Latin, it is “felix”.

The poor in spirit belong to the Kingdom of heaven. God reigns over them. For this reason they are both happy and fortunate. But this is not immediately obvious. We would expect that it is the rich who are happy and fortunate. But this is not so. Instead, we find Jesus declaring: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Lk 6:24). It is precisely for this reason that entering the Kingdom of Heaven requires metanoia, a change in the way of thinking and of looking at things.

The poor are the needy ones of Israel, the anawim They prefer divine service to financial advantage. Their poverty is real and economic but with a spiritual dimension.

“In spirit”. The emphasis shifts from social-economic to personal-moral: hu-mility, detachment from wealth, voluntary poverty.

But the poor in the Bible are not just the materially destitute but all those who in their need turn to God. Poor in spirit are those who clearly acknowledge that they depend totally on God.

v. 4. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Here we think not just of those grieving for a death but those also who feel a deep sorrow for the evils and injustices of this world. They mourn not just for their own pain but are in solidarity with all those who are the victims of "man's inhumanity to man".

v. 5. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Derived from Ps 37:11, it means “slow to anger” and “gentle with others”. It is a form of charity. t is the very opposite of arrogance, bullying and violent manipulation.

It is not to be confused with wimpishness, weakness or cowardice. The truly gentle person, the one who can remain gentle and respectful of the other's dignity in the face of provocative violence is a very strong person.

v. 6. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

To hunger and thirst for something is to pray for it. And what do they pray for? Righteousness, that is, obedience of the world to the will of God.

v. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

This is not just pity or sympathy but a deep down compassion and empathy, a real entering into the pain that others are experiencing.

It also refers to pardoning of one’s neighbor (Mt 6:12), to love (Mt 9:13), especially of the needy (Mt 25:31) and even one’s enemies (Mt 5:44-47). All vengeance is excluded.

v. 8. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

In the OT this refers to ritual and moral impurity being cleansed (Ps 51). In Mt it means justice, covenant fidelity, loyalty to God’s commands, sincere worship.

v. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Peace (shalom) means total well-being. In Mt peacemaking is closely related to love of neighbor and hence, to the beatitude of the merciful.

v. 10. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

They are persecuted because of their obedience to God.

3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Mt 4:12-23

The gospel for this Sunday may be divided into three parts:
• Jesus, the light of the nations (in fulfillment of the OT prophecies)
• The call to conversion (or living in the light of Jesus)
• Response to the call of Jesus

v. 12. When he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.

The Greek that was used to translate “arrested” was “paradidomi” which literally means “handed over”. As John the Baptist was handed over and executed, so also Jesus will be handed over and executed.

This handing over of Jesus is commemorated in every celebration of the Eucharist. Hence, the words of consecration are formulated as: “Take this all of you and eat it. This is my body which will be given up for you.” “Given up” is how the Latin “tradetur” was translated into English. Now “tradetur” is in fact the Latin equivalent of the Greek “paradidomi”.

vv. 13-14. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled. 

The choice of Galilee did not seem to be a good one for the start of Jesus’ public ministry. It was populated by Gentiles and Jews who were not noted for their observance of the Law. It was not held in high esteem. Nathanael’s low estimation of Nazareth (Can anything good come from Nazareth?) might be a reflection of the common low estimation for Galilee.

v. 17. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the king-dom of heaven is at hand."

Preaching might be better translated proclaiming. Hence, “Jesus began to proclaim….”

Jesus was proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of heaven. We might think of kingdom of heaven as the place were good people go after death. Jesus was not speaking of the after-life. He was speaking of life here on earth.

At this point it must be pointed out that when Matthew talks about kingdom of heaven, he was really talking of the kingdom of God. The Jews do not mention the name of God. So they use other words, such as heaven.

Instead of “kingdom of God”, the better translation would be “reign of God”. This is because the kingdom of God is not a territory. It is not a place. Instead it is a relationship between you and God. And that relationship is described as placing oneself under the loving power of God.

To repent is usually understood as being sorry. It is to regret some wrong thing I have done in the past and not to do it again. The repentance that Jesus asks of us is more than that. He is asking us to change direction. And this change in direction is the fruit of a paradigm shift. Simply put, paradigm shift means a change in how one thinks and how one looks at life. In other words, Jesus is asking us to an external change that is rooted in an internal change. The New Testament uses the Greek word “metanoia” for this kind of change.

vv. 18-19. As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus began to form a group associates. He did not pick them from influential members of the community such as the Scribes and Pharisees (although later on he would call St. Paul to be an apostle) . He picked fishermen who were probably illiterate (unable to read nor write) but steeped in the oral tradition of their Jewish faith. They probably knew very well the OT.

Another thing that may be pointed out is that the initiative comes from Jesus. He chose them to be his helpers. They did not choose to be his followers.

Following Jesus meant undergoing a metanoia. They left the life of fishermen to become fishers of men instead. Jesus had already done this. He left the life of a carpenter to be an itinerant preacher.

Regarding fishing Matthew (13:47ff) uses it as a metaphor for the kingdom. On the other hand, Luke (5:1-11) and John (21:4-8) use it as a metaphor for the work of the ministry.

v. 21. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them….

Can we find any symbolism in the observation that James and John were mending their nets?

The Greek word for “mending” is “katartizein”. Now this word has been used in the NT Letters to indicate the work of perfecting the church. Cf. 1 Cor 1:10; Heb. 13:21; and 1Pt 5:10.

Following this line of thought, casting the nets (Peter and Andrew) might be interpreted as the work of evangelization directed to those outside the church while mending their nets (James and John) might be interpreted as the ministry directed to those already in the church.

v .23. He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.

Teaching, proclaiming and curing describe the activities of Jesus. Late on Jesus will give to his disciples the authority to do what he does. Cf. Mt 10:1.7; and 28:20.
 
Matthew regularly uses the expression “their synagogues” to bring out the distinction between Christians and Jews.

Among the people (in Greek, “laos”). Matthew uses this expression 14 times. In most cases it means the Jews. Matthew might want to point out that although the ministry of Jesus was taking place in Galilee of the Gentiles, it was directed to the Jews who lived there. Only later when the Jews reject the good news will it be preached purposefully to the gentiles.

STO. NINO

Please refe to the Sto. Nino entries of the previous years for information and reflection on the Solemnity of the Sto. Nino.

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD - A

And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Mt 3:13-17

We celebrated the feast of the Epiphany last Sunday. The feast recalls the visit of the Magi in which Jesus manifested himself as Savior also of the gentiles, represented by the Magi. Jesus had two other epiphanies or manifestations: his Baptism at the Jordan and the miracle at Cana. At his baptism, the Father presented Jesus to the Jews as his beloved Son. At Cana Jesus manifested his glory, “the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Today we celebrate the manifestation of Jesus at the Jordan.

Matthew seeks to show Jesus as fulfilling the OT. In particular he seeks to present the life of Jesus as a parallel to that of Moses. For example, Pharaoh sought to kill the children of the Hebrews, including Moses, so also King Herod sought to kill Jesus and in doing so killed the Holy Innocents. Now Matthew wishes to show that as Moses led the Hebrews through the Red Sea and in the words of St. Paul were “all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1Cor 10:2), so also now Jesus goes to the John to be baptized by him in the Jordan.

Matthew takes Mark as his basis in his narration of the baptism of Jesus. However, there are important differences:

• Mark has “he saw the heavens opened”. Matthew has “And behold the heavens were opened”.
• Mark has “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased”. Matthew has “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The changes in Matthew make the baptism of Jesus a public event, a manifestation, an epiphany to those who are present.

The conversation between John and Jesus may have served to solve the problem surrounding the baptism of Jesus:

• Did his baptism imply that Jesus was also a sinner and needed repentance?
• Was John superior in rank to Jesus?

This is the first and only time that John and Jesus meet (excluding the visitation of Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth). The Voice crying out in the desert meets his Lord. The one who baptizes with water for repentance meets the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.

v.14. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?"

John objects to Jesus coming to him for baptism for he had asserted previously that “but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals” (Mt 3:11).

v. 15. Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."

Being a righteous man is often understood as a person who fulfills the Law. It is in this sense that Joseph was called a righteous man. Fulfilling all righteousness may mean fulfilling the Scriptures, that is, the baptism of the Hebrews in Red Sea (crossing of the Red Sea) is repeated in the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan.

v. 16. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the hea-vens were opened (for him), and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove (and) coming upon him.

Matthew may have in mind Gen 1:2 “The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters”. The meaning then is that as the Spirit of God was there at the creation of the world so also now the Spirit is present in Jesus and then upon his disciples at the beginning of the new creation.

v. 17. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

This has reference to several OT passages:

• Gen 22:2 – Take your son, your only son, Isaac.
• Ps 2:7 – I will tell the decree of the Lord: He said to me, You are my son.
• Is 42:1 – Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.

As Abraham brought Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him there, so also Jesus will be brought to Mt. Calvary to be sacrificed for the salvation of men.

In this verse, the Father proclaims to the people that Jesus is his Son. It is be-cause of this that the Baptism in the Jordan is truly an epiphany, a manifestation of who Jesus is.