{"id":7643,"date":"2022-02-13T11:30:30","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T16:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=7643"},"modified":"2022-02-13T11:30:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T16:30:33","slug":"6th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/6th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

6th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6, (40:5a)
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26
February 13, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this gospel passage Jesus begins his Sermon on the Plain.  The passage is explicit in saying He \u201cstood on a stretch of level ground<\/u><\/strong><\/em>.\u201d  Why does it specify \u201clevel ground\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is to show that Jesus fulfills prophecies that speak of how the mountains will be made low and the valleys will be filled in.  It also leads into a theme evident in Luke\u2019s Beatitudes and throughout the gospel of Luke, \u201cthe reversal of fortune.\u201d  God will make things right.  For example, the hungry will be satisfied and those \u201cwho are filled now<\/em>\u2026will be hungry.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we move into Luke\u2019s Beatitudes, we should think about what it means to be \u201cblessed.<\/em>\u201d  Some translations use the word \u201chappy\u201d in place of \u201cblessed,\u201d but I do not think the word \u201chappy\u201d is adequate.  It is not just a matter of being happy as in having no concerns or sadness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be \u201cblessed\u201d is to be in right relationship with God<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One who is poor understands that something is lacking for them.  They open themselves to something more.  They can open themselves to the Kingdom of God while the one who is rich may think they already have all they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One who is hungry longs for something more.  They look for what will truly fulfill them.  They look for God.  One who thinks they are filled now does not open themselves to what God offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One who weeps at bad things will find good things in Heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a Christian is not easy.  It can lead to people hating us, such that they exclude and insult us.  What does Jesus say about this?  When we are hated \u201con account<\/em>\u201d of our faith in Jesus, we are \u201cblessed.<\/em>\u201d  If people exclude for our faith, it shows that we are truly living our faith.  It is not us they reject.  It is God they reject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you among those who are \u201cblessed<\/em>\u201d or are you among those who will experience \u201cwoe<\/em>\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone who shows up in church is necessarily a disciple.  As Jesus began to preach on \u201clevel ground,<\/em>\u201d there was \u201ca great crowd of his disciples and<\/u><\/strong> a large number of the people.<\/em>\u201d  The \u201cand<\/em>\u201d indicates that there were people there who were not his disciples.  Perhaps they would become disciples but just being there did not make them disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is always both people who follow God and those who do not.  Jeremiah frequently experienced this as a prophet.  In today\u2019s first reading he speaks of the \u201ccursed<\/em>\u201d and the \u201cblessed.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201ccursed 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.<\/em>\u201d  We should be able to trust human beings but not instead of the Lord.  To be our trust in human beings and flesh over <\/u><\/em><\/strong>the Lord is to turn \u201caway from the Lord.<\/em>\u201d  To choose to live as others do instead of living according to the Lord\u2019s way is to turn \u201caway from the Lord.<\/em>\u201d  This is not a good choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather, \u201cBlessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.  He is like a tree planted besides the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream.  It fears not the heat\u2026in the year of drought it shows no distress.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The water?  The water is the waters of Baptism.  It is the living waters of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we live in faith and trust in Jesus Christ, when we drink the waters of the Holy Spirit our problems don\u2019t go away but the Lord does walk with us.  We do not need to fear the heat.  We need not distress.  We may suffer but the Lord is with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you led by the world or by faith? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our faith is not set by a human vote of what people want.  The teaching of our faith is not founded on human thought.  It comes to us through the Church but it is determined by God.  Trust in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very first verse of the first psalm is \u201cBlessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked.<\/em>\u201d  Rather, we should delight \u201cin the law of the LORD.<\/em>\u201d  We should not take the \u201claw\u201d for granted.  As the first psalm continues, we should meditate on the law day and night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it mean to \u201cmeditate\u201d on the law of the Lord? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is to constantly open ourselves to the Lord speaking to us of how He calls us to live.  We are humans.  We do not know everything but we can always strive to learn and better live the ways of the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlessed are they who hope in the Lord.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CJeremiah 17:5-8Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6, (40:5a)1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20Luke 6:17, 20-26February 13, 2022 In this gospel passage Jesus begins his Sermon on the Plain.  The passage is explicit in saying He \u201cstood on a stretch of level ground.\u201d  Why does it specify \u201clevel ground\u201d? This is to show …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[949,82],"tags":[560],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-1Zh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7643"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7645,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7643\/revisions\/7645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}