1 Kings 17:1-6 / Matthew 5:12
Yesterday, the season of Easter came to a close with the feast of Pentecost, the feast of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church so that the Church will be empowered to go forth to evangelize and to proclaim the marvellous works of God.
With that, the mood seems to have dropped as we begin today what is called the season of Ordinary Time.
The word "ordinary" seems to imply that there is nothing special, and that things are back to to the mundane and monotonous and routine.
But the 1st reading is certainly not about something that ordinary. The prophet Elijah declared to king Ahab that, in the name of the Lord God, he was calling upon a drought to descend upon the land in order to bring the king and the people to their senses.
And as the land was plunged into drought and famine, the Lord God took care of His prophet by sending ravens to bring him food and providing a place where he could have drink.
The season of Ordinary Time certainly had a dramatic beginning with the 1st reading.
If the 1st reading is dramatic, then the gospel is quite specific in the way we should live out our lives in these days of ordinary time.
To be poor in spirit, to be gentle, to mourn, to hunger and thirst for what is right, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be peacemakers, and to be courageous for the cause of right is the direction for our spiritual lives.
Jesus assures us that it will bring about blessings for us so that we can sanctify our lives so as to sanctify the world we live in.
It may sound rather extra-ordinary to live out the teachings of the Beatitudes, but as far as being disciples of Jesus is concerned, this is actually what we must do in the ordinary time of our lives.