Blessed are the poor in spirit: Matt 5:3, 1 Cor 1:3.

## I. The First Reading: Sof 2:3; 3:12-13Zephaniah invites the humble of the earth to seek the Lord: “**Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who have carried out his ordinances. Seek righteousness, seek humility**” (Sof 2:3). He also announces what God will reserve after judgment: “**In the midst of you I will leave a remnant, a people humble and poor, who trust in the name of the Lord**” (Sof 3:12). The rest of Israel will not be defined by their wealth, power, or skill, but by their relationship of trust and loyalty to God. The Hebrew term “**anawim**”, the poor, the humble, those dependent on God, accurately describes whom Zephaniah announces as the beneficiaries of the promise.## II. The Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:26-31Paul invites the Corinthians to consider their social composition: “**Brothers, look at your vocation: there are not many wise according to the flesh, or powerful, or of noble birth**” (1 Cor 1:26). He then states God’s principle: “**But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame what is powerful; he chose what is weak in the world to shame what is strong. He chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing what is**” (1 Cor 1:27-28). The reason: “**that no creature should boast before God**” (1 Cor 1:29). The only legitimate glory is to glorify oneself in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31, quoting Jer 9:22-23). Paul articulates the paradox of the Beatitudes in sociological terms: the Christian community itself embodies the logic of the Beatitudes, where the powerless are chosen and the powerful are confounded.## III. The Gospel: Mt 5:1-12aThe fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) weaves together three texts focusing on the blessedness of the poor and humble as privileged recipients of the Kingdom. Isaiah 2:3; 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, and Matthew 5:1-12a present a logic turned upside down: the first are last, the despised are chosen, the poor inherit the Kingdom. These texts describe God’s counterintuitive preference for the humble, the weak, and the poor, who trust in his name.

Jesus ascends the mountain, in Matthew the mountain is the place of the new Law, and he proclaims the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (v.5). “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (v.7). “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (v.8). “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (v.9). “Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v.10). And personal beatitude addressed to the disciples: “Blessed shall you be when people insult you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you on my account” (v.11). The Beatitudes are not a list of virtues to practice, but rather a description of the life of those who, by being on God’s side, find themselves on the wrong side of human power. They are Jesus’ self-portrait and the program for his disciple.

IV. Mary and the Beatitudes

Theological tradition has recognized in Mary the most perfect icon of the Beatitudes. Poor in spirit: Mary begins her Magnificat with the recognition of her own humility, “I am humble in spirit, for the Lord has looked upon me” (Lk 1:48). The Greek term tapeinosis is precisely what Zephaniah uses to describe the people God reserves. Mary, individually, is the “humble and poor people” of Zephaniah 3:12: who trusts in the Lord’s name, with no wickedness on her lips. 1 Corinthians 1 says that God chose what is nothing to reduce to nothing what is—Mary, a young woman from Nazareth without name or status, was chosen to be Mother of the Son of God, the greatest act of human logic inversion recorded in Scripture. Meekness: all of Mary’s life in Nazareth fulfills “blessed are the meek”. Mercy: her intercession at Cana, her presence at the Cross, her spiritual motherhood of the Church, are acts par excellence of mercy. Pure of heart: the Immaculate Conception is the highest degree of purity of heart, the total transparency to God that has no shadow of sin. Peacemaker: Mary in the Cenacle with the apostles (Acts 1:14) is the figure of peace that unites a divided community. The Beatitudes are Jesus’ program. Mary lived them before hearing them.