HAPPY ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN(1 Timothy 6:2-12/Psalm 49:6-10,17-20/Luke 8:1-3)

HAPPY ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN(1 Timothy 6:2-12/Psalm 49:6-10,17-20/Luke 8:1-3)


HAPPY ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

(FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019
The Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Priest and Companions)


When Jesus is only a part of our lives, not the centre, oftentimes we spend a lot of time trying to achieve what we think we are thirsting for such as worldly goods and riches. Many of us live our lives bombarded with these false forms of happiness. Oftentimes, we don’t realize that these false thirsts distract us from the deepest thirst of our human hearts - God.

In the first reading today, St. Paul gave Timothy instructions on what to teach the brothers. Among other things in this reading, Paul says “For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. ( 1 Timothy 6:10). To have money and to use it is not bad but what Paul condemns here is the love of it to the extent that it deprives us the true love of God or becoming an obstacle on our way to love God above all else.

Of course, anything that deprives us the true love of God should be avoided or jettisoned in our lives not only money or material resources. After all many in history have used their wealth and resources not only to serve God well but also rendered good services to humanity. Jesus calls each and every one of us to continue with his mission of preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Jesus longs for all of us to become disciples. He knows that true happiness doesn’t come through going through the motions of “acting” like good Christians by following rules. True happiness comes through entering into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

In order to develop this relationship with Jesus, we need to spend time with him. There are many ways to spend time with Jesus. To name a few would be through prayer or reading the Scriptures. When we spend time with Jesus, Jesus starts to matter. Jesus starts to become more of the center of our lives rather than just a part. When Jesus is the centre, that is when we want to imitate Him and His life. That is when we want to be His disciple and accompany Him. Discipleship motivates us to live a life beyond the here and now.

We are motivated to pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. We also need to remember that we are all still subject to sin just as those accompanying Jesus in today’s Gospel. Discipleship doesn’t mean guaranteed perfection. What becomes important, is how we respond to our sin.

The psalmist reminds us today that, ‘no one can redeem oneself, or alone pay ransom to God; too high is the price to redeem one’s life. It is necessary to open oneself to God’s presence so as to not become consumed with the material goods, possessions and responsibilities of the day.
I don’t believe that the beatitude’s invitation to ‘be poor in spirit’ necessarily means to shun the things in our lives. But the real question is how do we use those ‘things’ - the material goods, resources and time, not only for ourselves but to empower others to become more fully who they might be? We are being reminded that the women who travelled with Jesus (Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Susanna, etc.) provided for Jesus and those who travelled with Him out of their own resources.

Their wealth and material resources were not a stumbling block in their connecting to the God present in their midst. Rather in sharing the ‘things’ of their life with others, they offered a means for God’s presence in Jesus to be more fully experienced by the people. Let us use what we have to serve God in season and out of season. It can be our wealth and resources or any other kind of gift or talent God endowed us with.

Let Us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me to be contented with what I have. May I always use the opportunity I get in life to do good and not evil. Amen.