Homily for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feb. 13, 2022. The Gospel of St. Luke 6:17-26. Topic: Blessings & Woes
Struggle, sacrifice, self-denial…. These are all a part of our lives and not just when things go wrong or when we have to go through some trial or difficulty. Oftentimes, we intentionally embrace these things when we want to better our situation. For example: If we want to advance in our occupations, we put in extra effort and time to prove our dedication and competence. If we want to improve on our appearance and health we will embrace a strict regimen of proper nutrition and commit ourselves to a program of physical exercise. If we want something bad enough, we willingly chose sacrifice and self-denial in order to come out on the other side with the joy of accomplishment and a better form of living. Jesus is telling us in today’s Gospel that we should have the same enthusiasm, the same commitment and the same determination about our spiritual growth and development.
If we value and want to improve our spiritual health and well-being, we must willingly and intentionally embrace the struggle, sacrifice, and self-denial that come with choosing to live according to the way of Jesus. Today’s Gospel presents us with the most basic of his teachings that have come to be called the Beatitudes, a word that means “Blessings”. These are attitudes and behaviors that describe Jesus himself, and include such things as trust, mercy, humility, kindness, justice, patience and fidelity to God no matter what the cost. They define and describe who we are as Christians. And as we hear in today’s Gospel, the Beatitudes have both a negative and positive dynamic. They are a blessing for those who embrace them but a condemnation for those who refuse to do so.
The Beatitudes teach us that those who make material possessions, self-promotion and the pursuit of pleasure their motivation in life will end up with just those superficial things and nothing more. If their whole focus in life is what this world has to offer, then when their life in this world comes to its end, so will they. Why is this? Because God was not their focus. Heaven was not their goal. The needs of others were not their concern. And so, such people will get what they lived for: an eternity in which there is no room for God and no experience of relationships rooted in real love. It’s what we have come to call “Hell”.
On the other hand, Jesus teaches that those who do embrace the struggle, the sacrifice and the self-denial required in observing the Beatitudes will also get what they lived for: blessings from God in this life and happiness with Him forever in the next. Why? Because despite the difficulties they encountered, they chose to be faithful to a lifestyle inspired by Jesus. Besides the many opportunities they had to live what is called “the good life”, they chose a lifestyle that was simple, sacrificial and giving. Having been touched by Christ and changed from the inside out, they embraced a life focused on loving God and neighbor instead of primarily oneself.
In addition to being a description of both Christ and Christians, the Beatitudes are also the foundation of what we call the “social teachings of the Catholic Church.” This means that the Gospel has - or should have - an effect on how we live and behave as neighbors and citizens in society. If we think that religion is something confined to Sunday worship and concerned primarily with our personal morality, then we are greatly mistaken in our understanding of Christianity! It is absolutely impossible to define and interpret Jesus and the Gospel in this way. The overriding majority of Jesus’ teachings are utterly inseparable from social responsibility and the Scriptures clearly inform us that love for the God whom we cannot see is proven by our love for the neighbor whom we can see.
With this in mind, I find it very interesting and very revealing that Jesus starts off by naming poverty as the first Beatitude, that it receives pride of place. I think it’s important for us to understand what the Gospel means by the term “poverty” because when many of us hear this we get confused and even turned-off. As 21st century Americans, when we hear “poverty” we think of “destitution”, you know, living at the poverty-level, with not enough to eat or to wear. But this is not at all what Jesus means in this Beatitude.
Gospel poverty means simplicity of life, being content with what one needs and not being suffocated by an over-accumulation of the things one wants and then so often wastes. It’s a Beatitude that is especially important and necessary in today’s culture that is so steeped in materialism and driven by consumerism, the desire for more, more, more. As Christians, we are called to embrace a simple lifestyle which, while allowing for what we truly need, also makes room for the just needs of others. Handling our finances in this Gospel spirit means that we are not saving or spending all of our money for ourselves, but are giving a fair share to relieve the suffering and needs of those who don't have it so good.
You know, this makes me think of some of the home renovation shows that I enjoy watching. They will often highlight a newly enlarged walk-in closet that's as big as a bedroom, filled with so many clothes and a whole ocean of shoes. It makes me wonder how in the world the residents of that house can even keep count of what they have, let alone even get around to wearing all that they have stored up. Meanwhile, others in their town go around with barely enough food to survive, without sufficient funds to buy necessities, or without proper clothing to wear. As Christians, we must admit that there is something so very wrong with that picture. It’s such a glaring contradiction of the first Beatitude, and so polar opposite to the way of Jesus.
So, for our own sake, for our very salvation and for the sake of our neighbor, let’s take to heart the words that Jesus speaks to us in today’s Gospel: Blessed are you who struggle. Blessed are you who sacrifice. Blessed are you who embrace self-denial for love of God and others, for you shall be forever rewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven. But woe to you who have served and pampered yourselves in this life. Woe to you who have lived without thought for your needy brothers and sisters, By choosing to have your consolation and comforts here and now, you have forfeited them forever in eternity.
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