February 13, 2022, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
In today’s readings we learn a lot about blessings and curses. In the Gospel, which is from Luke (Lk. 6:17, 20-26), they come especially in his version of the Beatitudes. These blessings and curses can be quite perplexing and even hard to accept because they seem to imply that most of us hearing them who lead rather happy and fulfilling lives are doomed to be cursed.
Matthew, of course, has his own version of the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-12). Simply summarized, according to Matthew, the poor in spirit will be blessed. Those who mourn will be comforted. The meek will inherit the land. Those who hunger and are persecuted for righteousness, will be satisfied, and receive the blessings of heaven. The merciful will be shown mercy. The clean of heart will see God. The peacemakers will be called children of God. And those who suffer in the name of Jesus will be rewarded.
Luke has many of these same themes as Matthew. He also talks about the poor and their reception of the kingdom of heaven, as well as the hungry who will be satisfied. He says those who weep will eventually laugh. And those persecuted because of Jesus will be rewarded.
But Luke also has this confusing set of woes. He proclaims woe to the rich because they have already received their consolation here on earth. He pronounces woe to the those who are filled, for they will be hungry and to those who laugh, for they will grieve and weep. And woe to those who are admired; they will be treated, that is shunned, like false prophets.
Looking at the First Reading from Jeremiah for today (Jer. 17:5-8) may somewhat help explain Luke’s blessings and woes. For example, Jeremiah proclaims, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, whose heart turns away from the Lord” (Jer. 17:5). This we might apply to those who are the target of the “woes” in Luke. It is not so bad that they are full, or rich, or happy. Rather their sin is the result of trusting in man and turning away from God. They are more concerned with earthly desires than the ways of the Lord and so blinded by their own good fortune that they do not appreciate the value of God’s kingdom. Thus, they become like barren shrubs in the desert who bear no fruit in the name of Jesus.
In contrast, Jeremiah declares, “Blessed are those who trust in the LORD; the LORD will be their trust” (Jer. 17:7). These are the poor and hungry, those who weep and the persecuted. With their trust placed in God, when the earthy goods in which the others delight disappear or become rare and supplanted, these who already trust in God will have nothing to fear or distress over. They still receive the blessings of God and like a tree planted near water they can produce fruit for the sake of the Church.
Our psalm for today, an excerpt of Psalm 1 (Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6), carries a theme similar to the reading from Jeremiah. According to this psalm, blessed are they who hope in the Lord and follow the ways of God’s laws, regardless of social status, wealth, subjugation, or oppression. As with Jeremiah, these are like trees which yield fruit in due season and prosper.
Whereas the wicked, whose main concerns lie with the ways of the world – avarice, greed, popularity, and wealth – and who have no time for the ways of God’s laws, do not experience the blessing of the Lord. Rather they are like the chaff, the inedible part of the grain, which the wind drives away.
So, what does this mean for those of us who are well-off according to the standards of our society but cursed according to the readings? It doesn’t mean that if we are financially comfortable, well-fed, admired by others, or emotionally well-adjusted and happy that we will be cursed. It means that we must not make these things the sole priority in our lives. Rather we should put first our obligations to God and the Church and let all else be secondary. We must try to live more like Jesus.
If we look closely, we can see that there is a striking similarity between those who are blessed and the life of Jesus. For there were times when Jesus enjoyed the presence of rich people. Think of Zacchaeus, the tax collector at whose house Jesus dined. Here he enjoyed a good meal and probably had a good time laughing with his new friend. There were also times where people praised and admired Jesus and said good things about him. Yet these are the things on which Jesus pronounces a curse.
So, let’s look at the other side of Jesus and how the Beatitudes depict his life. Ultimately, he was poor and lived a life of poverty, traveling as an itinerant preacher to spread the word of God. There were times when he was hungry, especially when he spent forty days in the desert to prepare himself for his mission. He wept and mourned over the death of his friend Lazarus, and he wept when he entered Jerusalem knowing that the city and its inhabitants would eventually be doomed. He endured suffering and sorrow throughout his trial and passion. And he endured the ultimate persecution, dying as a criminal hung upon a cross for the sake of the salvation of sinners.
Jesus enjoyed many good things in life, but it was his sufferings by which he carried out the will of God and brought salvation and the forgiveness of sins to all of humanity. This is what we seek to mimic in the Beatitudes – the blessings that imitate the life of Jesus and depict the will of God for our redemption through the life He has given us above the obsession of earthly desires.
