February 16, 2025
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 78
Reading I
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
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
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad;
your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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 kingdom of God is yours.
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 Man.
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.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021625.cfm
Commentary on
Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12,16-20; Luke 6:17,20-26
Today’s Gospel says:
Blessed are you who are poor…But woe to you who are rich…
Maybe in church this is very nice to hear, but is it a
practical teaching in the real world? The Gospel says that many people from
many places came to hear Jesus preach. But these words, we are told, though
clearly relevant to all, were meant especially for Jesus’ disciples. Who are
his disciples? They are those who have identified themselves fully with Jesus’
mission, with his vision of life. They are those who believe in him, who listen
to him, and follow him.
What Jesus says in Luke’s Gospel today is similar to
Matthew’s eight beatitudes. When we first hear them they seem like a
contradiction: the poor are happy; the rich are to be condemned. Does not the
Church always condemn the world’s poverty? And our societies always say that to
make a lot of money is the sure sign of a successful life.
A matter of the Kingdom
If we want to understand Jesus’ words, we need to know he is speaking of the
Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is the society that Jesus wants to establish—and
not just in some future life. (Matthew’s term ‘kingdom of heaven’ can be
misleading in this context.)
When Jesus was beginning his public life, he announced his
mission in the synagogue at Nazareth:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
In the Kingdom, for the poor and the hungry there is only
good news, because they enter a society which will protect and care for them.
We have still a long way to go in making that Kingdom a reality.
Why so hard on the rich?
On the other hand, it is “woe to you who are rich”. Why? Perhaps the
answer is in the First Reading from the prophet Jeremiah:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
The rich sometimes feel they are very independent, that they
can use their money to control and manipulate others, and they do not need God.
If they pray, it is to ask him to help them earn even more money, or to protect
the riches they have amassed, or even to console a lonely God—remember the
Pharisee praying in the Temple, saying “Thank God I am not like the rest of
men.”
On the contrary, Jeremiah says today:
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.
Neither rich nor poor
In fact, in the Kingdom, there is really no place for either rich or
poor. To be a rich person means that one has more than others—more than one
needs and some of what one has belongs to those in need. To be poor means one
does not have enough to eat or wear; one does not have a place to live and in
general one’s life is lacking in proper human dignity. In the Kingdom, there
can be no rich or poor in this sense, because those who have more will share
with those who do not have enough.
It is not just a question of ‘charity’, but one of justice,
each one having what is properly due to him. In ‘charity’ I give what I can
easily spare; in justice I share what I have. It is not just a matter of pity
for the poor, but of seeing them as truly brothers and sisters and sharing with
them.
The bottom line is not poverty or wealth, but where we put
our security. That is the meaning of the First Reading. Do I put my security in
what I have or in an interdependent community where each supports the other and
thus all are taken care of? This is the ideal, the vision of the Kingdom; it is
the mission of the Church. It is the responsibility of every disciple of Jesus.
If we can implement this, everyone will be able to enjoy the happiness of the
Kingdom—not only in some future life, but in this world and in this society.
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Sunday, February 16, 2025
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the
scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to
Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written
in the bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the
disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be
the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in creation
and in the scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and
suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the
way to Emmaus, may experience the force
of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our
midst as source of fraternity, justice, and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus,
Son of Mary, who revealed the Father to
us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
Gospel Reading –
Luke 6: 17, 20-26
A Key to the Reading:
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus declares blessed those who
are poor, those who weep, those who are hungry and who are persecuted. And He
declares bound to unhappiness the rich, those who laugh, who are satisfied, or
who are praised by all. Of what does the
happiness consist which Jesus attributes to the poor, to the hungry, to
those who weep, to those who are
persecuted? Is it happiness? The words of Jesus contrast with the daily experience of our life. The common ideal of
happiness is quite different from the happiness that Jesus speaks about. And
you, in your heart, do you think that a person who is poor and hungry is really
happy?
Keeping in mind these questions, which result from our daily
experience, read the text of this
Sunday’s Gospel. Read it attentively, perhaps without trying to understand it
all. Allow the word of Jesus to enter
into you. Keep silent. During the reading try to be attentive to two things:
(i) to the social category of people who say they are happy, as well as those
who are threatened by unhappiness; (ii) to people whom you know and who are
part of the group of your friends and
who could be part of one or another of these social
categories.
The text of this Sunday’s Gospel omits verses 18 and 19. We
take the liberty to include them in the
brief comment that follows, because they explain a bit better the public, those
to whom the word of Jesus is addressed.
A Division of the Text to Help in the Reading:
• Luke 6: 17: Places
the action of Jesus in time
• Luke 6: 18-19: The
crowd seeking Jesus
• Luke 6: 20-23: The
four beatitudes
• Luke 6: 24-26: The
four threats
Text:
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
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were
tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because
power
came forth from him and healed them all.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: “Blessed are you who are
poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. 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 Man. 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.”
A Moment of
Prayerful Silence
so that the Word of
God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
Some Questions
to help us in our
personal reflection.
• Which is the point
that you liked best or that struck you the most? Why?
• Who constituted the
great crowd around Jesus? From where did they come and what were they seeking?
• What are the social
categories of the people who are declared happy (Lk 6: 20-23)? What is the
promise that each one of them receives from Jesus? How are these promises to be understood?
• When saying
“Blessed are the poor,” would Jesus be trying to say that the poor should
continue to live in their poverty?
• What are
the social categories
of the people
who are threatened
by unhappiness? (Lk 6: 24-26)? What are the threats for each one of
them? How is this threat to be understood?
• Do I look at life and
at people as Jesus does?
To Deepen the Theme
Context of the Time and that of Today:
Luke presents the teaching of Jesus in a progressive revelation.
First, up to verse 6: 16, Luke says many times that Jesus taught, but says
nothing on the content of the teaching (Lk 4: 15, 31-32, 44; 5: 1, 3, 15, 17;
6: 6). Now, after informing us that Jesus saw a great multitude desirous of opening
themselves to the Word of God, Luke presents the first sermon. The sermon is
not long, but it is significant.
The one who reads it unprepared will almost be afraid. It seems to be a sort of shock
therapy!
The first part of the sermon (Lk 6: 20-38) begins with a
provocative contrast: “Blessed you who are poor!” “Alas to you who are rich!”
(Lk 6: 36-38). The second part (6: 39- 49) says that nobody can consider himself
superior to others (Lk 6: 39-42); the good tree
bears good fruit, the bad tree bears bad fruit (Lk 6: 43-45).
Certainly, a person is not helped by hiding behind beautiful
words and prayers.
What matters is to put the word into practice (Lk 6: 46-49).
Commentary on the Text:
• Luke 6: 17: Places the action of Jesus in
time and space.
Jesus has spent the night in prayer
(Lk 6: 12) and has chosen the
twelve to whom He has given the name of apostles (Lk 6: 13-16). Now
He goes down from the mountain together
with the twelve. Having reached level ground, He finds two groups of
people: a numerous group of disciples
and an immense crowd of people who had come there from all of Judea, Jerusalem,
Tyre, and Sidon.
• Luke 6:18-19: The crowds who seek Jesus.
The crowds feel disoriented and abandoned and seek Jesus for
two reasons: they want to listen to His word, and they want to be cured of
their illnesses. Many people were cured,
who had been possessed by the evil spirits. The people try to touch Jesus
because they are aware that there is a
force in Him
which does good and cures people. Jesus accepts all those
who seek Him. Among these crowds there are also some Jews and foreigners. This
is one of the favorite themes of Luke!
• Luke 6:
20-23 The Four Beatitudes
• Luke 6: 20: Blessed
are you who are poor!
Fixing His eyes on His disciples, Jesus declared, “Blessed
are you who are poor, because the Kingdom of God is yours!” This first
Beatitude identifies the social category of the disciples of Jesus. They are
poor! Jesus guarantees for them: “Yours is the Kingdom of Heaven!” It is not a
promise concerning the future. The verb is in the present. The Kingdom is
already theirs. Even being poor, they are already happy. The Kingdom is not a
good future. It already exists in the midst of the poor.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus makes the meaning clear and
says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit!” (Mt 5: 3). The poor are those who have
the Spirit of Jesus, because there
are also the poor who have the spirit and the mentality of the rich. The
disciples of Jesus are poor and have the mentality of the poor. They also, like
Jesus, do not want to accumulate, but accept their poverty and like Jesus,
struggle for a more just living together where there will be a fraternal spirit
and the sharing of goods, without discrimination.
• Luke 6: 21: Blessed
are you, who are now hungry, blessed are you who now weep!
In the second and third Beatitude Jesus says, “Blessed are
you who are now hungry, because you shall have your fill! Blessed are you who
now weep, because you shall laugh!” The first part of these declarations is in
the present, the second part in the future. What we now live and suffer is not definitive.
What is definitive will be the Kingdom which we are constructing today with the
force of the Spirit of Jesus. To construct the Kingdom presupposes suffering
and persecution, but one thing is certain: the Kingdom will arrive and “you
shall have your fill and shall laugh!” The Kingdom is at the same time a
present and a future reality. The second Beatitude evokes the Canticle of Mary:
“He has filled the starving with good things” (Lk 1: 53). The third one evokes
the prophet Ezekiel who speaks of those who “grieve and lament over all the loathsome
practices” carried out in the city of Jerusalem (Ezek 9: 4; cf. Ps 119: 136).
• Luke 6: 23: Blessed
are you, when people hate you…!
The fourth Beatitude refers to the future: “Blessed are you
when people will hate you and will denounce your name as criminal, on account
of the Son of Man! Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for your
reward will be great in Heaven. This was the way the prophets were treated!”
With these words of Jesus, Luke points out that the future announced by Jesus is
about to arrive, and these people are on the right path.
Luke 6:24-26: The
Four Threats
After the four Beatitudes on behalf of the poor and the
excluded, follow the four threats
against the rich, those who are filled, those who laugh or who are praised
by everyone. The four threats have the same
literary form as the four Beatitudes. The first one is in the present. The second and third one
have a part in the present and a part in the future. The fourth one refers completely to the future.
These four threats
are found in the
Gospel of Luke
and not in Matthew. Luke is more radical in
denouncing injustice.
• Luke 6: 24: Alas for
you who are rich!
Before Jesus, on that level ground, there are only poor and
sick people who have come from all parts (Lk 6: 17, 19). But before them, Jesus
says, “Alas for you who are rich!” In transmitting these words of Jesus, Luke
is thinking of the communities of his time, toward the end of the first
century. There were rich and poor, there was discrimination against the poor on
the part of the rich, discrimination which also affected the structure of the
Roman Empire (cf. Jas 2: 1-9; 5: 1-6; Rev 3: 15-17). Jesus harshly and directly
criticizes the rich: “You rich, you have already had your consolation!” It is
good to remember what Jesus says at another moment concerning the rich! He does
not believe very much in their
conversion (Lk 18: 24-25). But when the disciples are frightened, He says that
nothing is impossible for God (Lk 18: 26-27).
• Luke 6: 25: Alas for
you who now laugh because you will be afflicted and will weep! “Alas for
you who have now been filled
because you will be hungry! Alas for you
who now laugh because you will be afflicted and will weep!” These two threats
indicate that for Jesus poverty is nothing fatal,
and much less the fruit of prejudices, but rather the fruit
of an unjust enrichment on the part of others. Here also, it is good to recall
the words of the Canticle of Mary: “You sent the rich away empty handed!” (Lk
1: 53)
Alas for you when
everyone speaks well of you!
“Alas for you when everyone speaks well of
you; in fact, their fathers did the same with the false prophets!” This fourth
threat refers to the Jews, that is, the sons of those who in the past praised the
false prophets. In quoting these words of Jesus, Luke thinks about some
converted Jews of his time who used their prestige and their authority to
criticize the openness toward the gentiles (cf. Acts 15: 1, 5).
Extending the
information:
The Beatitudes in Luke
The two affirmations “Blessed are you who are poor!” and
“Alas for you who are rich!” urge those
who listen to make a choice, an option on behalf of the poor. In the Old
Testament, several times God places the people before the choice of the blessing
or the curse. The people are free to
choose: “I place you before life and death, blessing and curse; choose,
therefore, life so that you and your
descendants may live” (Deut 30: 19). It is not God who
condemns. It is the people who choose life or death, it depends on their
position before God and of others.
These moments of choice are moments of the visit of God to
His people (Gen 21: 1; 50: 24-25; Ex 3: 16; 32: 34; Jer 29: 10; Ps 59: 6; Ps
65: 10; Ps 80: 15; Ps 106: 4). Luke is the only evangelist who uses this image
of God’s visit (Lk 1: 68, 78; 7: 16; 19: 44). For Luke, Jesus is the visit of
God who places the crowds before the choice of blessing or the curse: “Blessed
are you who are poor!” and “Alas for you who are rich!” But the people do not
recognize God’s visit (Lk 19: 44).
The Message of Luke for the Converted Pagans
The Beatitudes and the threats form part of a sermon. The
first part of the sermon is addressed to the disciples (Lk 6: 20). The second
part is addressed to “You who listen to Me” (Lk 1: 27), that is to those
immense crowds of the poor and the sick, who had come from all parts (Lk 6:
17-19). The words which Jesus addressed to this crowd are demanding and
difficult: “love your enemies” (Lk 6:
27), “blessed are those who curse you” (Lk 6: 28), “to those
who slap you on one cheek, present the other cheek” (Lk 6: 29), to anyone who
takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic” (Lk 6: 29). Taken literally,
these words may benefit the rich, because the harder choice is always for the
poor. And these words seem to say the opposite of the message of the Beatitudes
and of the threats
which Jesus had communicated before to His disciples.
But they cannot be taken literally. Not even Jesus took them like that. When the soldier
slaps Him in the face, He does not offer the other cheek; rather, He reacts firmly:
“If there is some offense in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you strike
Me?” (Jn 18: 22-23). Then how can we understand these words? Two sentences help
to understand what these words want to teach. The first sentence: “Treat others
as you would like people to treat you!” (Lk 6: 31). The second sentence: “Be compassionate
just as your Father is compassionate!” (Lk 6: 36). Jesus does not simply want
to change something, because that would change
nothing. He wants to change the system. The new way which Jesus wants to
construct comes from the new experience that Jesus has: the Father full of tenderness
who accepts everyone! The words of threat against the rich cannot be an
occasion of revenge on the part of the poor. Jesus commands them to have the
contrary attitude: “Love your enemies!”
True love cannot depend on what I receive from the other. Love should want the
good of the other independently from what the other does for me. God’s love for
us is like this.
The Sermon on the Mountain, the Sermon on the Level
Ground
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus comes down from the mountain and
stops on level ground to give a sermon
(Lk 6: 17). This is why some call it the “sermon on the plain.” In the Gospel
of Matthew, this same sermon is given on the mountain (Mt 5: 1) and is called
the “sermon on the mount.” Because Matthew seeks to present Jesus as the new
legislator, the new Moses. It was on the mountain where Moses received the Law
(Ex 19: 3-6; 31: 18; 34:1-2). And it is
on the mountain that we receive the new law of Jesus.
Prayer of Psalm 34
(33)
“Gratitude which comes from a diverse way
of looking at things”
I will bless Yahweh at all times, His praise continually on
my lips.
I will praise Yahweh from my heart; let the humble hear and
rejoice.
Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, let us acclaim His
name together.
I seek Yahweh and He answers me, frees me from all my fears.
Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright, you
will never hang your head in shame.
A pauper calls out and Yahweh hears, saves him from all his
troubles.
The angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear Him and
rescues them.
Taste and see that Yahweh is good.
How blessed are those who take refuge in Him.
Fear Yahweh, you His holy ones; those who fear Him lack for
nothing.
Young lions may go needy and hungry,
but those who seek Yahweh lack nothing good. Come, my
children, listen to me,
I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
Who among you delights in life, longs for time to enjoy
prosperity? Guard your tongue from evil,
your lips from any breath of deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace, and pursue it.
The eyes of Yahweh are on the upright, His ear turned to
their cry.
But Yahweh's face is set against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
They cry in anguish and Yahweh hears and rescues them from
all their troubles.
Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted; He helps those whose spirit is crushed.
Though hardships without number beset the upright, Yahweh
brings rescue from them all.
Yahweh takes care of all their bones, not one of them will be broken.
But to the wicked evil brings death,
those who hate the upright will pay the penalty.
Yahweh ransoms the lives of those who serve Him,
and there will be no penalty for those who take refuge in
Him.
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the Word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice
what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not
only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the
Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
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