Gospel: February 16, 2025
February 16, 2025 (Sunday)
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4, & 6
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8
This is what the Lord says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings and depends on a mortal for his life, while his heart is drawn away from the Lord!! He is like a bunch of thistles in dry land, in parched desert places, in a salt land where no one lives and who never finds happiness. Blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord and whose confidence is in him! He is like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots toward the stream. He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; the year of drought is no problem and he can always bear fruit.
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Well, then, if Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say, that 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 gives you nothing, and you are still in sin. Also, those who fall asleep, in Christ, are lost. If it is only for this life, that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people. But no, Christ has been raised from the dead, and he comes before all those who have fallen asleep.
Gospel: Luke 6:17, 20-26
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of his disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. Then, looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Fortunate are you, who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Fortunate are you, who weep now, for you will laugh. Fortunate are you, when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets. But alas for you, who have wealth, for you have been comforted now. Alas for you, who are full, for you will go hungry. Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Alas for you, when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.
Lectio Divina:
“Life in Christ.”
Read: Those who rely on the Lord find happiness in this life, even in the midst of trial or sorrow. They are fortunate, or blessed, because they are building their lives on that which lasts.
Reflect: Luke’s presentation of Christ’s Beatitudes divides the joys and sorrows up into a contrast like Jeremiah’s prophecy in the first reading. On the face of it, the Beatitudes seem to present the seeming contradiction of joy and fortune in adversity. However, there is a hidden ingredient in the Beatitudes which makes all the difference, and the ingredient is life in Christ. There is no joy in grinding poverty, rejection, or loss of a loved one, unless we are clinging to the one who will lift us up and let his face shine upon us. As Saint Peter says, if our hope is unfounded, “we are the most unfortunate of all people.” But our hope is built upon the truth of the resurrection, and this changes our sorrow to joy.
Pray: Reflect upon what the tree of your life is rooted in: the abundant, living water of God or a puddle of earthly satisfaction which will not last the test of time.
Act: Be an instrument of Christ’s peace and joy to the poor or sorrowful of heart.
