FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A]
In the readings from St. Matthew’s Gospel, we now begin the Sermon on the Mount, commencing with the Beatitudes, the “charter of the little person on the way to the kingdom of God”.
The Old Testament parallel [First Reading] is from the prophet Zephaniah. This prophet was active in Jerusalem during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC), a righteous king who sought to implement reforms to preserve and purify the faith. His reign was the last brief flourishing of the monarchy in an age of decadence before the final collapse and the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (587).
As with other prophets, Zephaniah sees many of the people’s troubles as stemming from their arrogance, their certainty that God will act for them no matter what they do. He addresses the ‘holy remnant’ of the people, urging them to seek the path of humility; then, just possibly, God will spare them in what lies ahead. The second part of the reading looks further into the future, to an age when the poor will be vindicated, and will be able to live in peace.
Last week [Second Reading] St. Paul criticised the tendency of the Corinthian Christians to rally round different leaders, as though they were in opposing teams. This is not the way of Christ, he says, for Christ offered himself in humility for all. The ways of the world require self-assertiveness and pushing in; the ways of Christ do not.
The Christian community in Corinth (apart from being quite small, probably only about 60 persons in all) was a real ‘mixed bag’ and Paul reminds them that their being called by Christ has not depended on their status in the world, quite the reverse. No doubt some of the better-off and more influential converts were beginning to steamroller the remainder. Paul also draws their attention once again to an important truth: in Christ they are changed people, called to holiness. They are ‘members’ (limbs) of Christ; they are his body living on earth.