By Msgr. Josefino s. Ramirez / Sunday Gospel In Our Life
The gospel of today is about the beatitudes—those formulations beginning with the word “blessed,” by which Christ summarizes the demands of the Christian spirit.
The beatitudes are like paradoxes. It calls blessed what people normally consider as “cursed.” Poverty, hunger, tears and persecutions are considered reasons for rejoicing. “Rejoice on that day and exult, for beholds your reward is great in heaven.” (Luke 6:23)
Nowadays, there is a tendency to deliberately silence this aspect of the Christian message. At times, this is done with the excuse that the “sacrificial aspect” of Christianity is a vestige of a “medieval mentality” and is therefore irrelevant at present.
It is very true that the Christian message is a message of joy and happiness. That the Paschal Mystery culminates with the glorious Resurrection of Christ. But the joy and happiness of the resurrection is only possible with the renunciation and sacrifice of the cross. To deliberately silence this aspect of the Christian life in favor of a “sweetened” and mitigated Christianity would be to fall into the trap of our consumeristic society.
The effectiveness of the Christian message can precisely be seen when it clashes with worldly values. Ancient Rome was a decadent society that thrived on “bread and circuses.” There was rampant immorality at all levels of society—not only among the Roman aristocracy, but all the way down to the common people.
The early Christians gradually gained converts among them, not by conforming to the materialism and selfishness all around them, but by being firm in their way of life. Their lives made a striking contrast with the dissipation all around them.
At times people represented their presence—it could have been like a sting on their consciences. They were accused of all sorts of fabricated crimes. Yet their lives served as a witness that gradually ended up converting the whole Roman empire.
We must admit that nowadays, we are engulfed in a culture of hedonism. Personal pleasure, satisfaction and gratification hold sway.
Love, the most Christian of all virtues, is often depicted falsely and identified with selfishness and egotism. Sacrifice and suffering are the new taboos. Now, more than ever, this aspect of the Christian message is especially relevant. Let us not fall into the easy temptation of silencing it.