Today’s readings are challenging, not impossible, but very challenging for our modern ears.  

In our first reading, if you take St. Paul’s advice seriously when he said “Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife,” then all of you students should become priests or religious.  Is that really what he is saying?  No, while that would be awesome, and we wouldn’t have to close any more churches for the next 50 years, it isn’t exactly his intent to encourage religious vocations.

Paul really thought that Jesus was going to come back soon, He really thought that it would happen in his lifetime, as he said, “I tell you, brothers, the time is running out.”

That is true, the time is running out, every day we are closer to meeting Jesus again, we just have no idea what the timeline is.  Paul goes on to say:

“From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.”  

The world is passing away, so Paul is encouraging detachment from the world, and attachment to God. Detach here, attach there.  This is what Jesus was saying too.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.”  

So this is Luke’s shorter version of the Beatitudes, there are 4 here, there are 8 in Matthew, they are similar but different. We notice that there is none of the softening offered by Matthew where he says “poor in spirit”, but a simple and straightforward statement of the blessedness of being poor. 

How do we interpret what seems to be a glorification of economic poverty? Let me propose the following reading from one of my former teachers, Bishop Barron: “How lucky you are if you are not addicted to material things.” One of the classic substitutes for God is material wealth, the accumulating of “things.” But there is freedom and fullness in detachment from things, and attachment to God! 

This is a hard lesson to learn, but Jesus is saying it, and well, don’t we all want to be happy?  This is what this word that Jesus uses means, “Blessed are you” means “Happy are you” or “Lucky are you” - we all chase happiness, we all want happiness, and we will do whatever we can to find it.

In my life, I told most of you two weeks ago that I went to college for Computer Science with the express goal of making a lot of money.  I thought that was what would make me happy.  More money equals more things equald more happiness. 

But it just wasn’t true.  I found happiness when I left the world and went to seminary, that was when I found joy and peace, I had never known it like I found it there, and I am making only a quarter of my salary in Des Moines. I learned it wasn’t about the money.

We are not all called to be priests or religious, but we are all called to be Holy and to work to share the love of God in the world, this is what will bring us true happiness and joy.

Carlo Acutis has some great quotes on this, I shared them with you students earlier but let me remind you and share them with those that werent at the assembly… one really stood out to me, Carlo said, “Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.”

Not me, but God.  And when we are looking at God, we can endure anything, being poor, being hungry, being sad, being hated, especially when we are doing those things for God, working for the Kingdom.

Carlo also said, “The only thing we have to ask God for, in prayer, is the desire to be holy.”  This is a prayer God always answers when we truly desire it.  

Often we pray for the wrong things, like to win the lottery, or in your case for your parents to win the lottery, but happiness can not be bought, what we really need is to be Holy so we can order our lives properly.

Here at Mass is where we begin to order our lives properly.  Carlo Acutis said, “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.” 

Jesus experienced all of these things, being poor, being hungry, being sad, being hated, and He still is encouraging us to be like Him, and that is when we will find true blessings, true happiness in our lives.

“Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.” My encouragement is to try it, try to spend more time looking towards God. 

My prayer is that when you do, you will be blessed, you will find true happiness, the joy and peace that you desire in your lives.