SIXTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)
February 13, 2022

First Reading (Jeremiah 17: 5-8)

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 (Psalm 1: 1-4, 6)

Refrain: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

1) 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. (Refrain)

2) 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. (Refrain)

3) 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. (Refrain)

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20)

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 in 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.

Gospel (Luke 6: 17, 20-26)

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.”

Copyright 1970, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Copyright 1970, 1997, 1998 Contraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The English translation of some Psalm responses, some Alleluia and Gospel verses and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, some Summaries, and the Titles and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass copyright 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., Washington D.C. All rights reserved.

The poetic English translation of the sequences of the Roman Missal are taken from the Roman Missal approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, copyright 1964 by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Inc. All rights reserved.

Resources:

- Days of the Lord, Volume 6, pp. 41-51. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Mn., 1991.

 

- Good News, by Rev. Joseph T. Nolan. Liturgical Publications, Inc., 2875 South James Drive, New Berlin, WI. 53151.

- If Christ Be Not Raised, from The Letters to the Corinthians, by William Barclay. Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland: 1975.

- The End of the World's Values, from The Gospel of Luke, by William Barclay. Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland: 1975.

- Getting the Proper Nourishment, from Dynamic Preaching, Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville, Tn. 37922.

- Woe to You Who Are Rich, by Walter J. Burghardt in Speak the Word With Boldness, pp. 71-75. Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ 07430: 1994.

- Tell Me, What Hurts Me, by Walter J. Burghardt in Still Proclaiming Your Wonders, pp. 111-116. Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ 07430: 1984.

Homiletic Ideas:

- St. Augustine puts it this way: "We all want to live happily; in the whole human race, there is no one who does not agree with this proposition, even before it can be fully articulated". And he also says "How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you".

Homily

Christian Values

In today's first reading, we heard Jeremiah talking about the difference between those who trust in the things of earth and those who seek the things of heaven. He says that when difficult times occur, those who trust in God will still "bear fruit".

In the second reading from his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells them that the root of their faith is the resurrection and that Christ is the "first fruits of those who have fallen asleep". In order to understand this phrase, we have to realize that the Feast of the Passover was more than a remembrance of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. It was also a great harvest festival which occurred just when the barley harvest was due to be gathered in. The law required that everyone "bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest...that you may find acceptance (before God)." (Lev.23:10-11). When the barley was cut, it was brought to the Temple. There it was threshed, parched over a fire and then exposed to the wind so that the chaff was blown away. Finally, it was ground in a mill and its flour was offered to God. Only then could the flour be bought and sold in the market and be made into bread. The first-fruits were a sign of the harvest to come; and the Resurrection of Jesus was a sign of the resurrection of all believers which was to come. Just as the new barley could not be used until the first-fruits had been duly offered, so the new harvest of life could not come until Jesus had been raised from the dead. (1)

And in Luke's gospel passage of the beatitudes our Lord summarizes the difference between a life lived according to God's principles and a life lived according to the principles of this world. When you come right down to it, what the Beatitudes present us with are guidelines on how to live a happy life. Webster's dictionary defines beatitude as "supreme blessedness, exalted happiness", from the Latin word beatitudo, which means "perfect happiness". They should be our response to our "natural desire for happiness, a desire which is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw us to him who is the only One who can fulfill it" (#1718). So "the Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude" (#1719). But what is God's beatitude? God's beatitude is perfect happiness. "God put us in this world to know, to love and to serve him, and so to come to paradise" (#1721).

But in order to come to paradise, we have to make some decisive moral choices in this life. "The beatitudes teach us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - but in God alone, the source of every good and (the source) of all love". (#1723)

John Henry Cardinal Newman, whose birthday is next week, put it this way: "All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the multitude of humanity pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth; and by wealth they measure respectability...It is a homage resulting from a profound faith that with wealth a person may do all things. Wealth is one idol of the day and notoriety is the second. Notoriety, or fame, has come to be considered a great good in itself, and a ground of veneration." (#1723)

The Catechism closes its discussion of the Beatitudes with these words: "It is the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and the teachings of the apostles which describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Spirit, we tread those paths step by step by our everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ in our hearts, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God" (#1724)(2). So we have come full circle, back the fruits spoken of by Jeremiah and Paul in our first and second readings.

So, if we were to sum up the focus of all of today's readings in one word, I believe that word would be "values". Values are defined as "abstract concepts of what is right, worthwhile or desirable; principles or standards; any quality desirable as a means or as an end in itself". Jeremiah says that blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose values are in the Lord. Paul too says that Christ must be the root, the foundation of every Christian's life. And the Beatitudes define the actions and attitudes, i.e. the values, which should be characteristic of every Christian.

And what does all this mean for us? Our Lord has told us "by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:20). If a fruit tree is rooted in rich soil, if its trunk and limbs are healthy, then it will bear good fruit. However, if the soil is poor, the roots are not strong, or if the tree is diseased, it will bear poor fruit or no fruit at all. The fruits are the external signs of what is happening inside the tree. It is the same with us. If our lives are rooted in the values of this world, i.e., wealth, riches, fame and fortune, in essence, how we have taken care of "self", then we will not bear fruit worthy of feeding others. If, however, our lives are rooted in Christian values which find their fulfillment in the next world, which are measured by how we have cared for one another, then we will bear good fruit to nourish the bodies and souls of others. And we must decide each and every day of our lives whether our lives will be measured by success in terms of the values of this world, or in terms of the values of the next world, as enumerated in the Beatitudes.

Here is a story which I believe exemplifies the difficulty of the choices which we must make on a daily basis. The author writes:

There is nothing in this world which will ever satisfy our longing; nothing. No matter what we possess or achieve or accomplish, it will always leave us hankering for more. But the way that we have cared for others will be remembered long after we are gone from this mortal coil. I have heard it said that all you take with you when you go is what you have left behind in the hearts of others.

When it comes right down to it, do we give back to God a representative portion of what God has given to us? He has blessed us with jobs, perhaps not our dream jobs but jobs that put bread on the table nonetheless. Are we truly thankful?? And if we are, do we demonstrate that gratitude by returning the "first fruits" of our labors, just as the Hebrews did? Marjorie in our story gave back a lot more than the "first fruits" of her good fortune. Shouldn't we be able to do the same?

The Beatitudes teach us that we will be happy if we are: poor in spirit, that is, not attached to the things of this world; meek, i.e., patient and humble, especially under provocation; if we live a virtuous life; if we are forgiving; if we are free from sin to the best of our ability; and if we try to bring about reconciliation among all peoples. If we live in a constant state of anger, hatred, revenge, bitterness, self-pity or any other sin, we will not be happy. That is because we are not free to do what we should do because that sin rules us and not the other way around. Possessions and material things do not bring lasting happiness because they are centered around the "self". We can only be truly free when we are free from sin, when we are free from "self", and when we learn to give freely of ourselves to others and not count the cost. Then we will truly bear good fruit, a fruit that will last into eternity.

References:

1. The First-fruits of Those That Sleep. Reprinted with permission from The Letters to the Corinthians, copyright 1975 by William Barclay. Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. 

2. Catechism: #'s 1716-1724 (Our call to happiness). United States Catholic Conference, Washington, DC: 1994. [As recommended in A Homily Sourcebook (The Universal Catechism), by N. Abeyasingha. The Pastoral Press, Washington, D.C.: 1993.] Used with permission.

3. Found Money, copyright 1997 by Sue Freshour. From Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery and Nancy Mitchell, pp. 305-306. Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, FL. 

(Copyright 2013 by the Spirit through Deacon Sil Galvan, with a little help from the friends noted above. Permission is freely granted for use, in whole or in part, in oral presentations. For permission to use in writing, please contact the human intermediary at deaconsil@comcast.net.)

SIXTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)

February 13, 2022

Penitential Rite

Lord Jesus, you are the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Lord, have mercy.

Christ Jesus, you are risen from the dead and will raise us up on the last day. Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you gave us the Beatitudes to bring us to eternal happiness. Lord, have mercy.

SIXTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)

February 13, 2022

Prayers of the Faithful

Celebrant: Through the Beatitudes, Jesus taught us how to be happy here on earth and gain eternal happiness with him in heaven. Therefore, in confidence that he will intercede for us, we bring our prayers and petitions to the Father.

Deacon/Lector: Our response is "Lord, hear our prayer".

That the leaders of the Church will show us how to live the Beatitudes by what they say and by what they do, we pray to the Lord.

That those who have been blessed in this world may come to share their blessings with those in need, we pray to the Lord.

That all those who are grieving the loss of a loved one may find comfort in their faith, we pray to the Lord.

That, on this World Day of Prayer for the Sick, all those who are sick may come to know the healing power of Christ, we pray to the Lord.

That, as we celebrate World Marriage Day, all married couples will come to respect and love one another, we pray to the Lord.

That all of our brothers and sisters will be treated as our equals in the sight of God regardless of their race, color, nationality or religion, we pray to the Lord.

That all of those who have contracted the Corona virus will be healed, that those who have died will be welcomed into the loving arms of their Savior who suffered for them and that their grieving families will find strength in their faith, we pray to the Lord.

For all of the intentions we hold in our hearts and which we now recall in silence. (Pause) For all of these intentions, we pray to the Lord.

Celebrant: Gracious Father, you sent your Son to teach us how to live according to your law of love. Grant us the grace of your Spirit to walk the paths to the Kingdom which he has taught us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.