6TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR, (17TH FEB. 2019).
THEME: TRUE HAPPINESS IS IN GOD
(Jer. 17:5-8; 1 Cor. 15:12,16-20; Lk. 6:7,20-26)

What you choose in life goes a long way to determine your happiness or blessedness. Today, Jesus in his beatitudes (Lk. 6:20-26) asserts that those who choose God are blessed. We are called to make this choice every moments of our lives “Blessed are those whose hope is in the Lord, for they are like a tree growing near a stream” (Jer. 17:7-8).

The term “beatitude” means blessedness or happiness. It is derived from the Latin beatus, beati which means happy. We also find Beatitudes in the Old Testament, in the psalms, and in wisdom literature. The Beatitudes teach about ways to find favour with God. We can therefore say that they teach the path to true happiness. The greatest desire of the human person is the desire for happiness. Happiness is desired for its own sake. It is an end in itself. True happiness is found in God and Jesus is sent to teach us the path to God.

The Beatitudes are reminder to us that the religion of Christ, is primarily on the inside. Hence, as Jesus was praising the poor for their trust in God, he was telling the rich not to get attached to their possessions, but to share generously with the needy. It was the matter of the heart, not of the pocket. Jesus’ warning is on the dangers the rich face. The rich tend to be content with their present comfortable existence and, in their self-sufficiency, they tend to forget who their master really is; whereas the poor know that they cannot survive without God. They see God as the great provider. Even in your riches, what do you choose? dependence or independence on God?

The Beatitudes are solid promises as well as orientations. Promises such as: *God is ready to accept us just as we are, we do not need either to impress Him or to impress others. * God will satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst, we do not need to be afraid or to be anxious about our lives. *God is there to console us, we can endure all situations of pain and hardship. *God has a dwelling place for us, we can afford to refrain from seeking human accomplishment through violence and at the expense of others. *God is full of mercy and abounding in love, we do not need to blame others or even impose their guilt on them rather we should strive to forgive them.

The Beatitudes are not coercive or compulsive words in anyway. They are not intended to hedge-in our freedom as human beings. Rather they empower us and encourage us to free ourselves from the shackles of egoism and selfishness. The one who adopts the attitude that Jesus recommend in the Beatitudes will not only find happiness, life and salvation she/he will also achieve the inner freedom of the children of God. Our Catechism teaches us that God made us to know Him, love Him, worship Him, in this life and be happy with Him forever in the next. Our ultimate destination is heaven, which is eternal happiness.

JOKE: Do not Judge others

In a certain Christian community, a Lady committed a fault. So, they called a meeting was and invited a man called Abba Moses. He refused to go. They sent someone to say to him, “They are all waiting for you”. Moses got up and set off; he took a leaky jug, filled it with water and took it along with him. Reaching the meeting place, others came out to meet him and said. “What is this, Abba Moses?” The man said to them, “My sins run out behind me and I cannot see them, yet here I am coming to sit in judgment on the mistakes of somebody else.” When they heard this, they called off the meeting.
HAPPY SUNDAY!