6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

February 15,2004

by Rev. Herbert Nichols

Let’s begin with Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians to set the context.. Some of the early Christians had expected Jesus return during their lifetime; and therefore considered those who had died as being beyond hope. This is the situation to which Paul responds: If there is no resurrection of the dead, than Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen our faith is vain. Our entire faith rests on the resurrection of Christ from the dead and yet even today a great number of Christians and even some who call themselves Catholic do not believe in this fundamental core of our faith.

This is an age old problem. In the first reading we find Jeremiah’s strong words making clear the importance of trusting in God and not just ourselves or other human beings. He said this against the doom-sayers, those false prophets who tried to assure the kings that they were always right and that Judah should assert itself with great military power at the expense of providing necessities for the destitute and the hungry.

Jeremiah gives us this neat little image, which he probably got from the psalmist, that of a healthy little tree with roots deep in nourishing water. On the other hand is the one who is not so rooted and is lifeless as a barren bush in the same desert where the other flourishes.

Jesus takes up this message in today’s gospel. This section from Luke’s gospel is often called the Sermon on the Plain and in many ways parallels the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel. But Matthew spiritualizes the suffering of the Blessed; Luke also adds the dimension of physical sustenance.

Remember Luke being a physician wrote from a different perspective than Matthew’s historical Judaic viewpoint. Throughout the gospel of Luke we see this emphasis on the downtrodden, the outcasts, those who struggle just to survive.

Luke’s gospel is often called the gospel of mercy; and later we find a story not found in any of the other three: the story of the barren fig tree which Jesus wanted to curse. The gardener interceded pleading. Give me a chance to fertilize and refresh it. Give it another year. And Jesus in his mercy heard the intercession for a tree and gave it another chance.

As Jesus comes down from the mountain where huge crowds are assembled eager to hear him, see him, touch him; they are desperate for healing but barely perceive the depths of their need. They know it impinges and causes both physical pain and psychological stress; there is no cushion between their situation and abject poverty.

Their pockets are empty of coins because they pay taxes to everyone; their stomachs deprived of food; their hearts filled with a unique sadness of loneliness and isolation (perhaps like that man at the white house this week).

Four times Jesus pronounces a blessing on their woefulness; and in turn, like a physician aware of the side effects of all medication, a warning on those who are not attentive.

Jesus is not extolling a disenfranchised way of life, or of condemning the financially well-off. But He is saying that we can suffer worse losses than the loss of coin, bread, or even happiness. The loss of God or of any interest in God is the real poverty, starvation, sadness and isolation of the worse possible kind.

These simple folk did not realize when they first came to Jesus; but after hearing Him they knew, it was up to them to act on His words. In the end it would not be the size of the pocket book that is the deciding factor, or how fat their checking account, but how large and welcoming their heart; how rooted their lives were in the refreshing waters of God’s grace.

And as they were asked, we will be asked: In whom does your faith, hope, and love rest?