February 1: The Day of the Lord / El Día del Señor

Several centuries ago, Galileo Galilei, the Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer, argued that the renowned Aristotle’s theory on gravity was incorrect. According to Aristotle, if you dropped one object weighing ten pounds and another weighing one pound from the same height, the ten-pound object would fall ten times faster than the other. Questioning the great ancient authority in science and philosophy, Galileo claimed that both objects would fall at the same speed. People thought that Galileo was not only wrong, but crazy. So, Galileo climbed up the leaning tower of Pisa and dropped two objects, one heavier than the other, over the edge. To the amazement of the crowd, the heavier object did not fall faster than the lighter one. 

Over the years, we, too, may have dismissed as wrong, maybe naïve, or misguided, something we were told, and have come to find out afterwards that it was actually true. Well, the Beatitudes announced by Jesus in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5, 1-12) might not seem “right” to us because we equate happiness with power, influence, wealth, health, and beauty. In fact, some people have suggested that, if anybody other than Jesus had proposed them, we might just have considered them as too extreme or naïve or misguided. But Jesus meant what He said – and He practiced what He taught. Do we mean what we say? Do we practice what we have been taught – by Him?

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Hoy la Palabra de Dios (por ejemplo, Mateo 5, 1-12) nos predica el mundo al revés. Nos invita a comparar nuestras vidas y nuestros criterios con estos nuevos valores presentados por Jesús, que desconciertan a cuantos no creen en el Reino de Dios. Hoy, el Señor convoca a los sencillos y humildes, a los débiles a los ojos del mundo, y a los que se sienten pequeños aún en medio de riquezas, como condiciones indispensables para entrar a gozar de su Reino.

Según Jesucrito, felices y dichosos nosotros si vivimos el mensaje de alegría de Él como personas conscientes de la pobreza de nuestros corazones y de la insuficiencia de nuestros propios recursos. Bienaventurados nosotros si podemos entregarnos confiadamente en las manos de Dios.