Sunday January 23, 2022
Theme : " Happiness in the teaching of Jesus "
Text : Luke 6:17-23
17. He went down with them, and stood on a plateau, where there were a multitude of his disciples, and a multitude of people from all Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the seaside region of Tire and Sidon. They had come to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases. 18. Those who were tormented by unclean spirits were healed. 19. And all the crowd sought to touch him, because a power went out from him and healed them all. 20. Then Jesus, looking up at his disciples, said: Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours! 21. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied! Blessed are you who weep now, for you will rejoice! 22. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they cast you out, revile you, and reject your name as infamous because of the Son of Man! 23. Rejoice in that day and rejoice, because your reward will be great in heaven; for thus their fathers treated the prophets.
Let's remember:
Jesus teaches us that the Happiness is taking the time to leave home to go and listen to the Word of God in order to live by It. This thirst and this hunger for the Word of God is a vocation and a happiness. We also learn that poverty in this world is not an end in itself because in the kingdom of God we will be rich like poor Lazarus who had found his happiness with God. In the same way we can suffer from famine here below, but in eternity, we will be satiated because our happiness awaits us there. One can be in tears without losing one's happiness since consolation is guaranteed with the Holy Spirit. The wickedness of man must not make us retreat. On the contrary, we must go forward with God in the happiness which is the share of those who are hated, driven out, outraged, rejected because of their hope in Jesus. The tribulations inflicted on us because of our belonging to Jesus Christ should gladden our hearts with happiness. It is true that it is not easy to rejoice in tribulations but that is the lesson on happiness that Jesus Christ teaches us today. Excellent Sunday. Amen Alain Louz.-