First Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Reflection:
This Sunday’s readings focus on blessings and woes. There are similarities between this first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah and the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount in the gospel reading. Jeremiah contrasted those “who trust in human beings” with those “who trust in the Lord.” He is not saying that we shouldn’t trust other humans, but that we should not put our ultimate faith, which is reserved for God alone, in created beings. When we reject God and turn to things of this world to take His place, then we bring a curse upon ourselves, resulting in spiritual death. The contrasting imagery is clear here: those who place their trust in the things of this world (“human beings”) will spiritually wither and die, as they cut themselves off from God. In essence, they have made creatures, rather than the Creator, their God. On the contrary, those who place their faith and hope in the Lord will bear fruit. That person is “like a tree planted beside the waters.” God is the well-spring of life providing nourishment to our souls, if we “plant” ourselves near His life-giving waters. If we are rooted in God, we need not fear the “droughts” (i.e trials, tribulations, persecutions, sufferings, etc.) that may come, for He will continually provide us with the nourishment we need to remain spiritually healthy and bear fruit.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Reflection:
The Resurrection of Jesus is the central and most pivotal event in all of human history. Therefore, it is the most essential teaching of our Christian faith. St. Paul goes as far as saying that if it did not really happen, then our “faith is vain” and “we are the most pitiable people of all.” The entire Christian faith rises or falls on this one teaching. Interestingly, people throughout the centuries of Christianity, both outside of and within the Church, have criticized and questioned this teaching. Many have tried to explain away the resurrection, claiming that it did not really happen. For example, from the beginning, people claimed that the Apostles faked the resurrection by stealing Jesus’ body. But why, then, would they almost all go to their deaths (and gruesome, tortuous deaths, for that matter) still proclaiming (and refusing to deny) the bodily resurrection of Jesus? As much as people have tried to explain it away or deny it, the resurrection of Jesus remains to be a reality at the center of our Christian faith. If Jesus died but did not rise, then we “are still in our sins.” In other words, without the resurrection of Jesus, we have no hope of salvation. Thankfully, Jesus did rise bodily from the dead and, therefore, has shown His power over sin and death. As a result, we can receive forgiveness of our sins and experience resurrection, both spiritually here on earth and one day bodily as we “look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come,” as we proclaim in the Nicene Creed each Sunday.
Gospel Reading: Luke 6:17, 20-26
Reflection:
This Sunday’s gospel reading is a portion of St. Luke’s record of the Sermon on the Mount (or the “Sermon on the Plain,” as it’s often titled in Luke’s gospel). His version is truncated from what we find in St. Matthew’s gospel, in which the Sermon on the Mount takes up three entire chapters! Here we have St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes (which total eight, rather than four, in Matthew’s gospel) and the contrasting “woes.” These statements may seem shocking and can easily be misunderstood. For example, was Jesus teaching that it is bad to have wealth? Was he teaching that it’s bad to eat well and have a full stomach? Was he saying that we shouldn’t laugh and should always be weeping? Does Jesus really want His followers to be hated by everyone to the extent that no one has anything good or complimentary to say about us? Well, not exactly. These statements should not just be taken at face value, as totally black and white. The point, rather, is that we should not be attached to things of this world. If we truly want to be happy (i.e. “blessed”), we must be detached from the things for this world (like wealth, food, laughter, and people’s opinions of us). In other words, as we heard in the first reading, we should not “trust in human beings” (and other things of this world) but we should “trust in the Lord.” If we put all of our trust in the creation, rather than the Creator, we will end up empty in the end, for we will have received our “consolation” here on earth, and will miss out on our reward in Heaven, which far outweighs the “blessings” of this world (e.g. wealth, food, laughter, and accolades). Therefore, let us seek eternal things and put our trust in God, so that our “reward will be great in heaven,” even if that means sacrificing and suffering here on earth.
Application:
- Re-read the blessings and woes in the first reading and gospel reading. Use these as a sort of evaluation for how you are doing in your spiritual life. Are you putting more trust in the things of this world or in God? How can you grow in your detachment from things of this world and attachment to eternal things, namely God?
- What difference has the resurrection of Jesus made in your life? Is that event the center of your life as a Christian?
