6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C February 16, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
Quid est veritas? Pontius Pilate mocks Jesus Christ with that question, “what is truth?” It’s cynical, showing that Pilate doesn’t think there is such a thing as “truth” in the first place. For him, all that matters is what works, what keeps him comfortable, alive, and in power. Cynical though the question is, Jesus does answer it. Not with words, but by his very presence and by his witness of obedience unto death.
I sympathize with the question, though. It’s not exactly easy to find truth in this world. Philosophers and sages and scientists of every era have sought truth. Yet, even before our advances in communication, convenient lies always spread faster than uncomfortable truths. Today, powerful tools make it possible for us fake words, fake audio, even fake video and then reproduce it thousands & millions of times. Maybe we aren’t like Pilate in dismissing truth directly. Maybe our question is more like “how can we know it’s true anyway?”
And you know what? That might be a good thing. At least, it might have the potential to become something good. Most people still fall for at least some falsehoods on the internet and other media, but I think perhaps it means we’ll begin to see just how hard it is to find truth. That humility in the search for truth, the realization of just how many lies and illusions there are in the world could come in handy for teachings like this one. “Blessed are you who are poor… woe to you who are rich.”
On the first pass, such a claim seems obviously ridiculous. And Jesus doesn’t offer much explanation. Just a single line after every paradoxical claim: the kingdom of God is yours, you will be satisfied, you have received your consolation, you will be hungry. But if you read it again while remembering how hard it is to find truth, maybe you’ll see that he’s helping us navigate the confusion of this world.
Part of the reason truth is so hard to find is that we exist inside of time. We can only really see one moment at a time. But the truth? That usually requires a much larger perspective. For example, if you had never seen an acorn before, what would you say about it? It’s small. Maybe it’s edible. But is it alive? What does it do? What is it worth? Until you see an acorn turn into a mighty oak tree, it’s hard to know the full truth about that tiny seed. A single moment in time, an examination of it’s outward appearance simply isn’t enough. You need both more time and a deeper perspective to see the truth about the acorn.
Well, the same is true of human beings. More specifically, if I ask you “who is blessed” or “who is truly happy,” how would you answer that question? Look for things like a full belly? Laughter? Wealth? A good reputation? Sure, those things look like happiness and blessedness in that moment, but are they really? Hunger and poverty and sorrow look like a lack of happiness in that moment… but is that the truth? Or is this an acorn, a reality that requires time and depth to see correctly?
Look again at what Jesus says: “blessed are you who are poor for the kingdom of God is yours.” The outward appearance of poverty hides the inward reality of heavenly wealth as the shell of an acorn hides the inner reality of life. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.” The present moment of hunger hides the future reality of satisfaction as the smallness of an acorn hides the largeness of an oak.
So, what is truth? Apparently, it’s the opposite of what it seems. The poor are blessed, the hungry are happy, and the crucified criminal is actually the king of the universe. So, do we really just live in upside-down world? A very long opposite-day? Why would God make everything so reversed? Why make the truth so hard to find?
No, I really want you to think about that. Don’t say it out loud, but please actually take a moment to think about an answer. If you don’t have an answer to this kind of question, it could one day be really bad for your faith when you’re in a situation where you can’t just ignore the question. What is truth? Why do you think God made the truth hard to find? Why do you think he make it so that so many things are the opposite of what they seem? [pause]
There are a couple of answers here. The first is something you should know from catechism: Original Sin. God didn’t make the world opposite and truth difficult. We did when we sinned. Original Sin cost us the grace of clarity. Original Sin made it harder for us to see the truth and choose to do what is good. Original Sin broke the world and made it so that, more often than not, evil gets ahead. Evil seems to win in this world because of Original Sin. That’s why it’s “blessed” to be poor, hungry, or weeping because those conditions make us more likely to see that this world is broken and that we’ll never be truly happy with this world. Like the acorn, we need to be dead and buried before we’ll see the full oak of happiness.
The other reason is that God wants us to grow. Even without Original Sin, human beings would still need to do some work. Even if evil wasn’t so powerful in this world, our goodness would require time and effort to really develop. This means learning to see deeper than the surface and learning to be patient so that time can reveal things that are not obvious in the present moment.
So, why does Jesus proclaim blessedness for the poor and woes for the rich? Because he’s trying to teach us that the truth is not what it seems. It exists. There is such a thing as truth, but thanks to our limitations and thanks to Original Sin, it takes time and effort and, ultimately, faith to see it clearly.
The beatitudes are not a checklist. The point isn’t “go starve and cry so you’ll be happy.” Jesus isn’t saying that wealth is sinful or that we should never laugh. These beatitudes are a lesson in perspective, a reminder that true happiness – like all truth – is not something you can judge by appearances in a single instant. They are a paradox, an invitation to trust that Jesus the crucified king can lead us to eternal happiness rather than the anxiety-ridden, half-happiness of power, pleasure, and wealth. But it takes faith. It requires us to accept the gift of grace that allows us to see past the illusions created by Original Sin. And yes, getting to that truth does often require us to literally give away money, face hunger, mourn our sins, and endure rejection from others.
But finding blessedness is not all sorrow and suffering. While most of the beatitudes say “they will be satisfied/laugh/be rewarded,” they are also in the present tense. The blessedness starts now, even while we’re still suffering. And he says the “Kingdom of God is yours,” not will be yours, but is. How? Because he is here with us, poor, hungry, mourning, and persecuted, present in hope, word, and sacrament.
The saints in every age have shown us what such blessedness looks like: Therese of Lisieux, Charlene Richard, and John Paul II radiating joy even as debilitating disease claims their lives. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Stephen praying and rejoicing even as they are murdered. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa gleefully giving away whatever they have despite always being poor.
Quid est veritas… what is truth? The truth is that no government leader, no food or drink, no wealth, no amount of laughter or popularity will make you blessed. Woe to you, cursed are you if you trust in such things! He is the truth and blessed are you if you hope in Him, for everything belongs to God and his kingdom. If you hope in him no matter what the world promises, then “the kingdom of God,” and everything in it, “is yours.”