26 June 2025 – Thursday of the 12th odd week
Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16; Matthew 27:21-29
H O M E L Y
Today we have the grand finale of the Sermon on the Mount, excerpts of which we have been reading for several weeks. Jesus tells us that all the teaching he has given us in this discourse is not something we should simply listen to for inspiration and emotional impact. It is something we must put into practice.
In today's world, a man or woman is considered successful if they have accomplished many things. And we easily transpose this mentality into our Christian life. We want to do many things for the world, for the Church, for the community, without always realising that we are often simply seeking to fulfil ourselves. This attitude could be described as ‘giving of oneself without concern for others’. Even in our spiritual life, there are many things we want to achieve. Of course, we want to be holy, to be perfect, and of course to be humble.
In the Gospel teaching we have just read, Jesus brings us back to reality. ‘On the last day,’ he says, "many will say: 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name? But Jesus will say, “I do not know you.” Yet these people did wonderful things. Where did they go wrong? The mistake was that all this beautiful construction was not built on the solid foundation of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, especially in the section on the Beatitudes, which opened the sermon.
Blessed are the poor, who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who accept persecution. These are not the means of success generally used today by those who seek success in the business world or in the political world, or even in the religious world.
And we all know how, in each of these ‘worlds,’ torrents and winds can strike without warning and houses can easily collapse. We also know that the house that withstands all these storms is the one we already have in heaven, which is founded on poverty of heart, kindness, mercy, working for peace, patience and forgiveness.
A great businessman of our time, who founded one of the large multinationals we know today, once said that Christians were a bunch of losers. He said it with a certain contempt, but in a sense he was right. Those who will ultimately be the ‘winners’ will be those who have accepted to lose themselves, to lose their lives, not to find something else, but to be found by God.
Armand Veilleux