Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
As we bring this first section of Ordinary time to a close and rapidly approach the season of Lent, it is good to remember that we are a people of hope. The antiphon (Psalm 40:5) for our responsorial psalm for today, Psalm 1, the first psalm of the Psalter, explicitly reminds us that, “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord” (40:5). This antiphon sums up nicely the emphasis of today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.
The first reading from Jeremiah underscores how vain trust in human beings is. Humans are never completely worthy of trust, even with the best of intentions, particularly because we are contingent beings. We are never in complete control of our lives. If we seek “strength in flesh” (Jeremiah 17:5) we will often be let down. How often our “heart turns away from the Lord” (17:5). This is placed in stark contrast with the one who trusts in the Lord and not simply in human beings. Jeremiah tells us, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord” (17:7). The verdant imagery Jeremiah employs to describe the one who hopes in the Lord is strikingly similar to the first Psalm’s description of the one who is blessed for delighting in the law of the Lord (Jeremiah 17:8 and Psalm 1:3).
In today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke’s Gospel we find Jesus elaborating on the blessedness of those who hope in the Lord, even when times are tough. He pronounces blessed the poor, the hungry, the weeping, those who are hated, excluded, insulted, and denounced as evil because of Jesus. And as with the reading from Jeremiah, Jesus pronounces woes on those in the opposite categories. This should give us great hope whenever we find ourselves in the category of the blessed, so long as we place our hope in the Lord.
And the reason for our hope is eloquently described for us in today’s second reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: “now Christ has been raised from the dead” (15:20). Christ has been raised, thus our faith is not in vain, our preaching is not in vain…our hope is not in vain. Jesus’ resurrection was His conquering of death. We need no longer fear death. We might suffer, we might lose everything, our very lives, but we will find ourselves again in eternity; our lives will be given back to us as we are brought into the very presence of God. This is our hope. Christ has been raised, and so we too will be raised with Him.
Inspired with this hope and confidence, let us courageously face with courage the long hard road of Lent which awaits us this week. Let us really enter Lent with the right intention: to be transformed. The degree to which we celebrate Lent and throw ourselves at the mercy of God through the penitential practices we undertake, will determine our capacity to celebrate and appreciate Easter. Let’s prepare ourselves and get ready to be molded by God through this communal pilgrimage in time.
Jeff Morrow