Jun 10 2024

First reading 1 Kings 17:1-6

The Lord sends Elijah into the wilderness

Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord lives, the God of Israel whom I serve, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except at my order.’

The word of the Lord came to him, ‘Go away from here, go eastwards, and hide yourself in the wadi Cherith which lies east of Jordan. You can drink from the stream, and I have ordered the ravens to bring you food there.’ He did as the Lord had said; he went and stayed in the wadi Cherith which lies east of Jordan. The ravens brought him bread in the morning and meat in the evening, and he quenched his thirst at the stream.

Responsorial Psalm 120(121): 1-2,3-4, 5-6, 7-8

R: Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth

I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
Indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.

The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.

Gospel Matthew 5:1-12

How happy are the poor in spirit

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

‘How happy are the poor in spirit;

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle:

they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn:

they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:

they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful:

they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart:

they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers:

they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven: this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.’

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Lord, let Your will be done on earth, especially in us

Today we begin reading from Matthew’s Gospel and being with chapter 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. It begins with Jesus seeing the crowds and going up a hill to teach. Moses, too, delivered God’s law from an elevated place, Mount Sinai. In the traditional way of a teacher, Jesus sits down.

The Sermon consists mainly of the qualities which are expected of a follower of the new Law and the new Moses, Jesus. It begins with what we call the Eight Beatitudes. It would seem that Matthew is presenting the Beatitudes as taking over the role of the Commandments and this is indicated by the prominent place they have informing the opening of this first discourse. They are, as it were, a manifesto of Jesus’ message and His call to see the world in His way. They express the necessary attitudes of those who belong to the Kingdom. Those who have these attitudes already have entered that Kingdom. Some people have seen in these Beatitudes a portrait of Jesus Himself and certainly they should be the portrait of every Christian and of every Kingdom person. They go far beyond what is demanded in the Ten Commandments.

The Commandments are not so difficult to follow and, in so far as several of them are expressed in the negative (‘Thou shalt no…”), they can be observed by doing nothing! There is no way, however, that people can ever say they observe any Beatitude to the fullest. They always call us to a further and higher level to grow more in the likeness of Jesus.

Lord, let Your will be done on earth, especially in us.

Acknowledgment: Reflections taken from ‘Daily Shalom’ on Herald Malaysia Online website.