Sixth
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I
Jer
17:5-8
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and
6
R. (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked,
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Reading II
1
Cor 15:12, 16-20
Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Gospel
Lk 6:17, 20-26
Jesus came down with the twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for the
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."
Commentary
The
First Reading taken from the prophet Jeremiah is a series of sapiential sayings
that contrasts the true and false believer. The idea of the just man being like
a green tree is common and found elsewhere in Scripture (see Ps 52:10; Prov
3:18; 11:13). The distinction made between the trust in humans and the trust in
God is also common in Scripture. The intention of the prophet’s words are to
define the essence of religion, which is God.
Paul
in today’s Second Reading refutes the thesis of the Corinthians and considers
it absurd. After having demonstrated a lack of understanding about the
significance of being members of the body of Christ, they now erroneously deny
the resurrection of the dead. Paul argues that if this were true then they also
deny Christ’s resurrection and therefore Paul’s preaching has been in vain
and their faith would be meaningless.
In
today’s Gospel Reading, Luke incorporates some of the same elements that are
found in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). However, instead of giving
this sermon on the mountain, Jesus comes down into the plain much like Moses
descended to give the Law to the people (see Exod 34:15). The beatitudes found
in today’s Gospel reading from Luke correspond to the first, fourth, second,
and eight beatitude in Matthew’s Gospel, but with significant differences. For
Luke, to be poor means to live dependent upon God. But being dependent on God is
not the main purpose of the beatitudes, rather it is to be dependent and
persecuted or mistreated for the sake of Jesus Christ. Just as the prophets were
treated shamefully, so too was Jesus and so must his followers be treated. In
contrast, the rich are challenged to change: Woe to you. This should not
be taken as a condemnation on a particular social or economic class, rather it
is a call to conversion because they did not use their wealth to help those in
need and they did not recognize God as the source of their gifts. Their
possessions and plentiful lifestyle kept them from trusting in God. However,
they too can become the “poor” of God if they share.
Reflection
It was always difficult for me to understand just what was meant by the beatitudes. How could anyone even think that a person could be blessed if they were poor, hungry, weeping, or even hated? What type of logic is that? My difficulty in understanding Jesus’ words was due to the influence of the world that surrounds me and everyone else. Today's world contradicts all the spiritual truths revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
The world teaches: Jesus teaches:
Accumulate wealth The poor possess everything
Eat, drink and be merry Hunger only for God
Popularity at any cost Persecution for upholding truth
To
be poor is to realize that everything I have and everything I need comes only
from God and therefore I place my trust only on him. If I trust in myself or in
my possessions or wealth I will eventually be let down. Someone will always have
more, someone can always do more. Instead of filling myself with food and drink
which passes and leads to hunger again, I should fill myself with the Word of
God and the satisfaction of doing the works that he asks of me. Only God can
fill that gnawing hunger that eats away at us day after day.
What the world teaches about happiness is that it is found in things, what we possess and what we desire. A wise man once decided to hide happiness from man. He believed that man did not deserve to be happy, because of his very nature towards evil. The wise man consulted with great thinkers and asked them to find a place to hide happiness. After some time, the great thinkers returned with this answer: "Hide happiness in the center of the earth; man shall not find it there". The wise man reflected on that and responded: "One day, man will be able to create a machine which can dig deep into the earth and find happiness. We must find another place". Again the great thinkers returned with another answer: "Hide happiness at the bottom of the ocean, for surely no man can reach it there". The wise man reflected and gave this response: "One day, man will build large steal fishes in which he will ride and be able to explore the depths of the ocean and find happiness. We must find another place". The great thinkers again pondered at this great task and returned with yet another answer: "We have finally found a place that man will never reach. Hide happiness in the vastness of space for man will never find it there". After a long silence the wise man said: "Man will one day build huge steal birds with great wings to propel himself through space and may come upon happiness. That is not the place. But I now know where to hide happiness. Man will always look for happiness in what he can see and touch; in those things which are outside of him. That is why I will hide happiness in his heart for he will never look inside of himself to find it".
Biblical References
New
American Bible;
Brown, R. K., and Comfort, P. W. (trans.) and Douglas, J. D., (ed.) “The
New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament”; United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops; Holladay, W. L., “Jeremiah 1”; Hyatt, J. P., “The
Book of Jeremiah”; McKane, W., “A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on Jeremiah: Jeremiah I-XXV”; Thompson, J. A., “The Book of
Jeremiah”; Murphy-O’Connor, J., “St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and
Archaeology”; Theissen, G., “The Social Setting of Pauline
Christianity: Essays on Corinth”; Fitzmyer, J. A., “The Gospel
According to Luke”; LaVerdiere, E., “Luke”; Maddox, R., “The
Purpose of Luke-Acts”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the
New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary”.
Reflection by
Deacon
Lazaro J. Ulloa