SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2025)

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2025)

Readings:

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Psalms 1:1-4, 6

1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

Luke 6:17, 220-26

The Beatitudes in today’s gospel are not unfamiliar to us, although Luke’s version is shared with and directed at “disciples,” and the teaching is conveyed on a plain, not from a mountain as they are in Matthew.  Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is much longer, but the gist of the Beatitudes in both is virtually the same.  This teaching of Jesus is so important that it is preserved in both Matthew and Luke’s gospels.  The introductory portion of the sermon in Luke consists of blessings and woes that address the real economic and social condition of humanity (the poor – the rich; the hungry – the satisfied; those grieving – those laughing; the outcast – the socially acceptable).  A good hint about what the word translated as “happy or blessed” can be found the first time it is used in Luke’s Gospel (1:45) when Elizabeth says to Mary, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Sr. Mary McGlone says “to be blessed means to have such hope in God’s future that you gladly bet your life on it.”

We are reminded almost every Sunday that Jesus’ teachings did not materialize out of thin air.  The heavy use of the prophets in our lectionary helps to remind us that Jesus’ teaching flows from His immersion in the Jewish Scriptures.  Our first reading from the major prophet Jeremiah speaks to his listeners about where they place their trust: “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 in season.”  Jeremiah might be seen as almost putting the words in Jesus’ mouth when he states, “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” where it will flourish.  This thought is echoed in the first of 150 psalms, which is our responsorial psalm for the day: “Blessed the man who… delights in the law of the Lord….  He is like a tree… whose leaves never fade.”  Jeremiah and the Psalmist represent a small portion of what Jesus would have been schooled in.

Not unfamiliar to the Jewish tradition is Jesus’ linking the blessings He recounts with the “woes” that will be visited upon those who do not pay heed to His words.  In case anyone was tempted to miss the point of Jesus’ teaching, the ‘woes’ remind the rich, the satiated, the laughing, and those who unduly seek compliments, that they are looking in all the wrong places for genuine happiness.  Indeed, the ungodly spoke well of false prophets in Old Testament times.  God’s people must remember that divine approval is more important than human praise, and seeking that God and placing one’s hope in that God, is the only way to find true happiness.

Sr. Mary M. McGlone, who serves on the congregational leadership team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, and who reflects almost weekly on the Sunday readings for the National Catholic Reporter, has a most interesting approach to today’s gospel reading.  She suggests that we convert Jesus’ statements (beatitudes) into a survey, with a 1-5 scale, with 1 being I fully agree, and 5 being I fully disagree.  Her approach offers us much to think about in deciding how ready and willing we are to live our lives in the way Jesus taught us how to live them.

* I rely on God over money, position, or my own plans.

* I feel the suffering around me, to the point that my desire for solutions creates a hunger that plagues me.

* I desire such solidarity with victims of war, injustice and impoverishment that I weep with them, impelled to find solutions to the imbalances of our world.

* I care little or nothing about the criticism, mockery or demotions I may receive for standing with those who are most vulnerable.

What do we learn about ourselves through our answers?