Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Ps. 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26
When Luke’s Gospel has parallel passages in Matthew but not in Mark, we can discover some wonderful hints about living the teachings of Jesus that are practical and meet us where we are. Matthew emphasizes fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, the establishment of the promised Kingdom in the line of David. Luke invites us to see that everything promised is also for those outside the physical progeny of Abraham and the children of Israel. The invitation is to every human being, all the descendants of Adam.
In his Beatitudes, Luke emphasizes that negative human experiences receive fulfillment from God; he also points out the lie of merely settling for what this world has to offer. “Blesseds” are balanced with “Woes.” The teaching that in Matthew comes from the mountain (showing that Jesus is giving a New Law beyond the Mosaic Law) in Luke is presented to all gathered who are “on the plain.” Coming down from the mountain requires meeting the world in its self-absorption as well as putting into practice the virtues that are Heaven’s response to the empty places we find in ourselves.
Luke highlights the “raw” situation of human experience. We confront being poor, not just being “poor in spirit,” and we are to avoid the trap of riches. We hunger for food, not just for righteousness, and we are to see the false lure of riches. We weep at loss, crying out of our pain, not yet moving toward the spiritual depth of mourning, and we must not confuse earthly joys and laughter with what God offers, since claiming and clinging to earthly matters will lead to loss and a deeper mourning. Persecution now reveals that nothing on earth can satisfy and that we share the fate of the prophets who have responded to God’s Word before us; our reward will be great in Heaven.
Where Matthew presents a description in the third person and then moves to an invitation to respond by “you,” Luke speaks directly to the disciple who reads or hears his words in every blessed and every woe. If you want to be a disciple, you must accept the raw reality of living differently from the world. If you fail to accept this truth, then woe to you! The truth will rip away what you think satisfies in time. Eternity beckons for a greater response even in the moment of realization that we are in want.
Jeremiah’s contrast between a tree in a desert without roots and one that has found a source of water presents an invitation to discover the true source of life. “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.” Trust in human beings will fail us, but trust in God provides the grace we need to meet life’s challenges no matter how severe. The psalmist agrees: “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.”
The struggles we face as individuals, as families and as a nation in a complex world seem too much for us. Our temptation is to get caught up in this world’s machinations and to remain stymied by whatever our condition may be, whether empty or “satisfied.” The Gospel calls us to look up and to attend to the situation of others as well as our own. Disciples of Jesus can expect blessings when we accept our need and do not try to fill them ourselves. We can expect woes when we fail to see the plight of others through Jesus’ eyes and through the charge of the Gospel to feed and nourish others with material and spiritual goods that have been given to us.
When we feel our incapacity, it is time to stretch our roots to the flowing water of a living relationship with the Lord Who speaks to our hearts and reminds us that the raw experiences of the world are meant to open our eyes to the promise of the Resurrection.