A reading from the prophecy of Zephaniah
(Chapter 2:3; 3:12-13)
From time to time, ancient Israel had to deal with distractions from worship of the one God. The prophet Zephaniah, in the seventh century before the birth of Jesus, addressed that issue, calling on the Jewish people who had fallen into false worship to restore their relationship with Yahweh. Zephaniah was thinking in terms of the day of judgment, but his counsel to Israel at that time was good counsel to all people of all times: "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger."
Responsorial Psalm
"The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers."
The psalmist, as though anticipating the teaching of Jesus, sings of God's love for all people, not only those who are fortunate or even privileged in this brief time on earth. God will embrace, perhaps first of all, those who seem least favored in this world.
A reading from Saint Paul's first letter to the Corinthians
(Chapter 1:26-31)
"God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something."
It's a popular pastime, on display in social media, to ridicule the Church and those who practice the faith. Saint Paul reminds us not to be discouraged by this but rather to continue in our "foolish" works of charity and justice —the works Jesus calls us to—that can ultimately transform the world.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:1-12a
(Chapter 18: 9-14)
These verses comprise the "beatitudes," a passage in the "sermon on the mount" in which Jesus turned conventional wisdom upside-down. It was a common belief in first-century Israel that a person's misfortune was punishment for sin, either actual sin or sin inherited from one's forbears. Notions like that could lead to pride and arrogance as we hear about in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: "‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity...." Jesus here confirms that those who are poor and meek, far from being abandoned, are most dear to God.
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Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
Image: The Sermon of the Beatitudes (1886-96) by James Tissot from the series The Life of Christ, Brooklyn Museum. Public domain.
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.