Jer 17:5-8; Ps 1:1-4,6; 1 Cor 15:12,16-20; Lk6:17,20-26
Blessings and Woes
Dear friends, today is the sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Our readings today remind us that our future depends on the choices we make today. Every person, regardless of his or her age, has a past and a present and hopes for a better future. The choices we make now or today determine our immediate and remote future. Our actions or omissions today will beget either blessings or woes.
A Swahili refrain says, “He who toils under the sun will eat under the shadow”. The reverse is true that he who does not toil today will suffer tomorrow. There is no escape from laziness. However, many keep ignoring this fact and act as though there is no tomorrow. Some people age with a lot of pain and suffering because of the lifestyle they or their parents chose when they were younger and they know it. Yet others age gracefully because also of the choices they or their parents made when they were growing up. What is your life like today? Do you think that your life situation today has anything to do with the decisions you or your parents made earlier on? What choices do you have now?
In the first reading, the author presents two outcomes for every choice we make. The first is, that those who put their trust in themselves or other human beings and turn away from the Lord will be cursed. The second is, that those who trust in the Lord will be blessed. We may trust people but that should not take the place of God in our lives. People who make us think that we do not need God are the agents of our future destruction. Such people make us stop the good practices we inherited from our childhood. They make us stop going to worship. They make us abandon participating in faith groups that helped us to grow. They make us stop being generous and charitable, among other things. Instead, it leads us to indulge in momentous pleasures that end up destroying our lives. Do you have such people surrounding you? What good practices did you stop because of the company you keep today? Do you think you are ending in the right direction? Is there any sign that the future is bright or dull?
The Psalmist also tells us that those who put their trust in the Lord will remain fruitful all the days of their life. They will be like a fruit tree which gives fruits in due season. Those who put their trust in their wealth, power, or in other men, end up being disappointed. I am sure you have heard many times that “Money and power cannot buy happiness”, but do you really buy it? Money can buy perishable and time-bound pleasures, but true happiness comes with working hard and trusting in God. Happiness is not beautiful clothes, beautiful houses, good food, and owning expensive stuff. How many people have all the things money can buy but they live in fear, loneliness, and depression? You may not know this because they guard this side of their life very closely. What the cameras show are moments of infused happiness that just last the length of the video clips or remain only in the photos. Do the happy videos and photos you have on your social media really represent your normal life? Are you truly happy right now?
Jesus puts it clearly in the Gospel today. There are two moments in the life of a person, ‘now’ and ‘then”. The “then’ depends on ‘now’. “Happy are you who are poor ‘now’: yours is the kingdom of God”. Poverty here does not refer to material poverty but the recognition that one needs God in his or her life. The opposite of blessed in this passage is ‘woe’. “Woe you who are rich, for you shall hunger”, because you have let your riches take the place of God. Material poverty does not make anyone pious. Likewise, huge tithes and donations to Churches do not earn anyone God’s favour. Our acts of love, kindness, generosity, and charity do.
Blessed are you when people hate, abuse, and call you names for the sake of the Kingdom of God, but woe to you when people speak well of you now. Naturally, men and women prefer when people speak well of them even when they are crooked and corrupt than when they criticize them. The question is, for what reasons do people praise or criticize you? When you do the right thing, you may not get praised but you will be criticized. This is because people who benefit from your good deeds may not comment at all but those who are challenged and are envious of you will certainly criticize you.
Dear friends, each one hopes for a better tomorrow, but we often forget that a better tomorrow depends on the choices we make today. It is for each one of us to identify his or her ‘now’ and do the necessary to secure the ‘then’ we desire.
Have a blessed Sunday
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 