SIXTH SUNDAY OF
ORDINARY TIME

 

First Reading (Jer 17:5-8)

 

The teachers of Israel used frequently the image of the two ways in their teachings: the way of life and blessings and the way of death and malediction (cf Deut 30:15-20). They did not mean with this, let us make it clear, a predilection of God for the good and his hatred for the wicked, but they were just ascertaining the fact that man's happiness and unhappiness depended on the course he takes in life.

Also the reading of today uses this same image and is in fact divided into two parts: the first (5-6) describes the way of malediction. It begins with the saying: "Accursed be one who trusts in human beings"; it then goes on with a very meaningful simile: he is like a shrub planted in wastelands, in uninhabited salt land where no plant could ever draw any benefit for growth and development. The second part (7-8) describes the blessed man: blessed is anyone who trusts in Yahweh. He is like a tree planted by the waterside, drought cannot harm it and it never stops bearing fruits and it is admired and praised by all who pass by.

In simple words the message of Jeremiah is this: "Accursed be the man who puts his trust in man; blessed be the man who puts his trust in the Lord". This sounds like a wise suggestion and a good saying, but what does it mean? Is it telling us to distrust people? In my country we have a nasty saying that sounds like this: "To trust one is a good thing, but not to trust him is even better!" I think there is already enough mutual mistrust going round, so does Jeremiah urge us to have even more? What does "trust the Lord" mean? Is it a call to passivity, to hope that God will solve all our problems with a flourish of miracles? We all know how many people never have recourse to the Lord, they only trust their strength and yet achieve a pleasant life, have success and luck. We have a saying at home: "God helps those who help themselves.” So who is right: common sense or the prophet?

Be careful not to attach wrong meanings to the words of Jeremiah. He is not asking us to mistrust the others, nor is he fostering a passive attitude, his aim is another: he is encouraging our reflection on the things that matter, those that are really important.

Let us try to see on what we base our life: on money, pleasure, theft, hatred, cheating, exploiting the work of others, selfishness, wicked friends? Do we take success in commerce, politics, trade and profession as the main purpose of our existence? Then we are accursed. We are not told that God will punish us, the prophet simply points out how this kind of life, based on human hopes, will only lead to a disastrous end: nothing will remain of all these goods. Do we instead base our life in God? Do we believe that sharing of goods with our brothers, generosity, service, forgiveness, constant search for reconciliation are important things? We are blessed: these things will last forever, because love is eternal.

 

Second Reading (1 Cor 15:12,16-20)

 

The problem of the Corinthians was not really the resurrection of Christ, they believed this quite firmly, but the resurrection of people. Paul wants the Christians to know things clearly: “If the dead are not raised, neither is Christ" (16). And if Christ has not risen, then the consequences are dramatic: the faith has no foundation at all, those who died believing in Christ are lost forever, have disappeared, it is as if they never existed. And what about the Christians who are still alive? These must be pitied because they miss out on even the merry things that pagans can enjoy. Here Paul is rather strong in his descriptions, since, in reality, many people lead an austere life though not believing in the resurrection. But one fact is true: if Christ has not risen, then the Christians are all people cherishing false hopes.

The apostle tries to explain his thought using the simile of the first fruits. The first fruits are not different from the rest of the crop; they are only the first of the crop. Thus Christ is like the first fruit of all the risen; all dying after him will follow him and share his fate.

We do certainly know of people who are good and generous, lead an exemplary life, though they do not believe in another life. These people will be certainly welcomed in the house of the father and will even come before many Christians, who are such only by name. If these people are so well behaved already, why disturb them, why announce them the resurrection, why speak to them of the eternal life?

Let us make a comparison: suppose a man has won the first prize of a rich lottery, sooner or later he will get that prize even if unaware of his luck. But if he comes to know what he has won, he is happier, makes plans, and is not discouraged by difficulties because he knows that all in the end will be well.

The Gospel is not a code of law; it is a proclamation of joy for what God has done for us. Why let people live ignoring this great news, that is, that God wants all people happy? Why not tell people that life in this world is like a gestation, a preparation for birth? This hope will change the perspective of our existence. Whatever happens, joys or sorrows, luck or misfortune, all will take on a new meaning.

 

Gospel (Lk 6:17,20-26)

 

At the time of Jesus, the learned, wise men made great use in their teaching of beatitudes and of curses. In the first reading we have seen that also Jeremiah used this way to express his thought. Jesus used the type of language, common to the wise men of his people, several times. Matthew (Mt 5:1-12) and Luke (6:20-26) give us a long list of beatitudes. Let us now try to compare these two lists and see the differences. Some may find this somewhat difficult because the two texts are not perfectly concordant.

The gospels often differ in their account of events and teachings in the life of Jesus, and so we often wonder why we do not merge together the four gospels and thus remove all discrepancies. I can assure you that this would only cause a great confusion. It would be putting in the same pot a chicken savored by a forest sauce, a nice piece of dry fish well salted, two liters of local beer and a very sweet cake and then... on with the mixing! Who could ever eat that mixture? Each food is good if tasted and eaten separately.

So never mix together and confuse a passage of a gospel with a similar passage reported by another evangelist. Today we want to understand what the beatitudes reported by Luke teach us; we shall be studying those of Matthew next year. It is useful however to point out the differences between the two evangelists. Here they are: in Matthew Jesus proclaims the beatitudes sitting on the top of a mountain (Mt 5:1), while in Luke he announces them on a plain (Lk 6:17); but this is not an important detail. More important is the fact that Matthew gives eight beatitudes, while Luke mentions only four and follows them with as many "alas for you!" And also: Matthew “spiritualizes” the beatitudes; he says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed those who hunger and thirst after justice." The beatitudes of Luke are instead very much "earthly”; he says: "Blessed are you who are poor, who are hungry, who are weeping" and denounces the opposite situations as dangerous: "Alas to you who are rich, who have plenty to eat, who are laughing now." Nothing spiritual in these, Luke is very much down to earth!

Let us now begin our reflection on the text of today and let us begin by asking ourselves: who are the beatitudes for? Are they addressed to all people? According to Matthew, yes, since Jesus is addressing crowd (Mt 5:1). According to Luke, instead, the addressees are only the disciples. This is how they are introduced: "There was a large gathering of his disciples, with a great crowd of people... Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he said: How blessed are you who are poor…” (17-20). "How blessed are you!”, my disciples, because yours is the kingdom of God. Why is Jesus saying these things? Peter, Andrew, John and all the others were certainly not rich, though not even poor, they had their house and boat and there were many who owned less. Why then are the disciples proclaimed blessed? What extraordinary feat have they accomplished?

To understand the meaning of this beatitude we must go back to what was said in the previous chapter that speaks of the miraculous catch and the call of his disciples. Luke there concluded the episode by commenting: "Bringing their boats back to land they left everything and followed him" (Lk 5:11). Later in the chapter there is the story of the call of Levi, with the same conclusion: “Leaving everything Levi got up and followed him" (Lk 5:28). Here is then what the disciples had the courage to do in order to follow their master: they left everything. They gave up owning the goods of this world and chose to be poor. They are blessed because they have understood that the life of man is not dependant on the goods he owns; the others, the crowds, have not yet understood this point, and have not taken this important and final step to enter into the kingdom of God. They continue reasoning with the arguments of the world, their hearts are bound to the goods they own. Perhaps they are very rich, or not that rich; the problem is that they lay their hopes of happiness on these goods, they are thus not free... They are not yet blessed.

Will it then be enough to give up all possessions and turn poor to be happy? No. The Christian does not go after suffering, privations and destitution as if they were his ideal. The reason for the joy proclaimed to the poor is the promise: theirs is the kingdom of God; the new world where nobody will be poor, as the Acts of the Apostles will say (Acts 4:34), has already begun.

This kingdom is brought about by the disciples of Jesus. They refuse to worship money, they have understood that earthly goods are not bad, are not to be destroyed, but must be shared out with all the brothers.

It would almost appear that according to Luke Jesus is only proposing a change of the world social order, but it is not so. The disciples who chose poverty are blessed not only because by renouncing ownership of goods they are fostering a more just society, but also because since their hearts are not tied up to money, they can open them up to God’s plan of salvation that goes well beyond this world. The rich are unable to accept this invitation to join the heavenly banquet because they are already busy banqueting on this earth and their state stops them from looking up and from accepting the call to share the joy of the Kingdom.

The other three beatitudes are not meant for other groups of people. It is still to his disciples that Jesus is saying: "Blessed are you who are hungry, you who are weeping, you who are persecuted.”

All these are the consequences of their option of poverty. Their beatitude does not stem from the suffering they feel, from the difficulties they encounter, but from the fact that with the coming of the kingdom, these painful situations will disappear; the hungry will have their fill and those who weep will laugh.

The four “alas for you..." do not add anything to this message, they only confirm the beatitudes in a negative form. Those who choose the logic of the selfish accumulation of goods, of satisfying all their whims while others languish and die of hunger, of not taking any interest in those who weep: all these are enemies of the kingdom, are accursed. This does not mean that God hates or punishes them, they are accursed because they have made the wrong choice, because they are in a terrible situation: a situation that prevents them from accepting the wealth being offered to them by God.

Aren’t we all, or almost all, poor, aren't we hungry, don't we suffer illness and accidents but in spite of this are we truly blessed? And what is the reason of our lack of blessedness? Is it because we are not building the kingdom of God? Why don't we see rising among us the new kingdom, where, according to the promises of the Lord, all will have their fill and all will laugh? Maybe the fault lies also with others, but do our communities really foster the spirit of sharing and reciprocal aid, or is everybody for himself or herself, with each member looking only after his or her own interests?

 

Theme of the Sunday

 

THE TWO WAYS: THE WAY OF

BEATITUDES AND THE WAY OF CURSES

 

The gospel as well as the first reading of today presents a blessed and an accursed way of life. They are two quite opposite ways of looking at life. Every person is bound to choose: one must say, through one's deeds, if one puts one’s trust in God or if one prefers not to risk and to draw the greatest possible enjoyment from what the life of this world has to offer. This second way seems to be the safer and more logical. The proposal of Jesus is in contrast with this type of earthly and human wisdom.

The second reading gives the reason why we must have the courage to detach our heart from earthly riches: our life in this world is only a passing moment, the full and final life will only come after this is over.