The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

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February 17, 2019

Jeremiah 17:5-8, Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26

After Jesus began his preaching ministry in his hometown synagogue, he set out to preach the values of the Kingdom of Heaven. In this passage, he delivers his Sermon on the Plain, which is a variation of the Sermon on the Mount, which is the outline for Christian discipleship. The Beatitudes are our blueprint for holiness, and the Lord wants us to know our essential goodness, and he wants us to know that he is aware of our suffering.

If Jesus were to give these words to us today, what would he say about our particular circumstance? I give you an adaptation of a prayer I heard the other day.

Blessed are you when healing takes longer than expected, when feelings of alienation arise, when you are worn out and weary, or when you are troubled by impatience or negativity.

Blessed are you when fear makes it impossible to face the future, when anger and resentment assail, when loneliness leads to anxiety, or when it is hard to rely on others for care.

Blessed are you when pessimism or cynicism holds sway, when anguish is intensified for the need of reconciliation, when sickness is mistaken for punishment, or when loved ones are far away.

Blessed are you when you feel you have nothing to hope for, when you are haunted by regrets and shame of past sins, when it is difficult to sleep or you have a loss of appetite.

Blessed are you when there is resistance for necessary change, when tempted by denial, when nobody seems to understand, when pain never leaves, or when medication seems to make things worse.

Blessed are you when all you need is a caring touch, when it is hard to find strength to go on, when it becomes difficult to pray, when suffering of any sort becomes hard to bear, when death draws near.

         Furthermore, he would say: Woe to anyone who stops my process of healing, who disregards me because of economic status, education, disability, race, gender, orientation, age, physical appearance, or retirement, or who excludes me as a matter of power and influence or political position. Woe to anyone who divides rather than unites and inhibits me from reaching my pursuit of happiness, the fullness of life, and freedom.

        

         Jesus sides with those who are suffering and who are striving to make their lives better. He understands what we are going through, and he wants us to be a community of faith to one another. He wants us to know that the people gathered here will support you and will provide you guidance and the care you need. He wants you to see that the presence of this community can be a source of your happiness because they show the love of God through their actions. Know that we love and care for you, even if at times we do not show it well.

         In First Corinthians, Paul reminds us that the source of our joy is the Risen Christ who is in the midst of our community. He is not as far away as we think he is, and every day he is working tirelessly, within our individual contexts, to lead us closer to God. When we take stock of the great blessings around us, we can certainly recognize our deep happiness, our contentment that we are surrounded by people who will always have our backs when the time of need is great.

         You are good, through and through. Know your essential goodness. Believe in it. Focus upon your striving to do good and let go of anything that holds you back. Congregate with people who are happy and good-natured. Happiness is yours now, even when we recognize the depths of our suffering. Happiness comes when compassion is extended to us, a compassion that is undeserved, but welcomed. Compassion is love in action because it lessens our suffering. Jesus, through us, gives us compassion more frequently than we realize.    Blessed are you. The Kingdom is yours, and that is the cause of our rejoicing.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Genesis 4) The man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.

Tuesday: (Genesis 6) When the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.

Wednesday: (Genesis 8) At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark, and he sent out a raven, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth. Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. But the dove could find no place to alight and perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth.

Thursday: (Genesis 9) God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth. Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground
and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. 

Friday (1 Peter 5) Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly.
Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock.

Saturday (Hebrews 11) Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Mark 8) The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign?

Tuesday: (Mark 8) The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread.

Wednesday (Mark 8) When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, “Do you see anything?”

Thursday (Mark 8) Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Friday (Matthew 16) Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.

Saturday (Mark 9) Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.

Saints of the Week

February 17: The Seven Founders of the Servites (Thirteenth Century) were from Florence and they joined the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin, who were also known as Praisers. They devoted their apostolate to prayer and service and withdrew to a deserted mountain to build a church and hermitage. After adopting a rule and gaining recruits, they changed their name to the Servants of Mary.

February 21: Peter Damian, bishop and Doctor (1007-1072), was orphaned and raised by his brother, Damian, a priest in Ravenna. He began as a hermit monk and was then made abbot and cardinal. He became a reformer in the church often speaking out against clerical laxness.

February 22: The Chair of Peter is celebrated on this day. Previously, both Peter and Paul were remembered until their feast was transferred to June 29^th. As the custom was ingrained in practice, Christians continued to honor the contributions Peter made to the church as the first of the apostles in continuous succession.

February 23: Polycarp, bishop and martyr (69-155), was made bishop of Smyrna and was the leader of the second-generation Christians. He was a disciple of the apostle John and a friend of Ignatius of Antioch. He wrote catechesis and rites for initiation into the Christian community. He was martyred in 155 and is a Father of the early church.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Feb 17, 1775. The French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Neapolitan Ambassadors in Rome intimate to the newly elected Pope Pius VI the will of their respective sovereigns that the Jesuits imprisoned in Castel S Angelo should not be released.

·      Feb 18, 1595. St Robert Southwell, after two and a half years imprisonment in the tower, was removed to Newgate and there thrust into a dungeon known as "Limbo."

·      Feb 19, 1581. The election of Fr. Claude Acquaviva as fifth general in the Fourth General Congregation. He was only 37 years of age and a Jesuit for only 14 years. He was general under eight popes. He had been a fellow novice with St Stanislaus.

·      Feb 20, 1860. Pope Pius IX visits the rooms of St Ignatius.

·      Feb 21, 1595. At Tyburn, the martyrdom of Robert Southwell after he had suffered brutal tortures in Topcliffe's house and in prison. He embraced the jailer who brought him word that he was to be executed. As he breathed his last, Lord Mountjoy, who presided over the execution, exclaimed: "May my soul be one day with that of this man."

·      Feb 22, 1599. By order of Pope Clement VIII, the superiors general of the Jesuits and the Dominicans, assisted by others, met to settle, if possible, the controversies about grace. Nothing came of the meeting, since the Dominicans insisted on the condemnation of the writings of Fr. Molina.

·      Feb 23, 1551. The Roman College, the major school of the Society later to become the Gregorian University, began its first scholastic year with 15 teachers and 60 students.