Reflection for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel (Luke 6:17-26) we hear that the poor are blessed, and the rich should live as though they are poor.

The hungry should feel blessed, and the well fed should be wary.

Those who weep should rejoice, and woe to those who are popular and successful.

This is all contrary to our natural reactions to life. Yet, Jesus doesn’t qualify anything He says. To take Him at His word is to dare to trust that His message will bring us closer to divine perfection. But, like much of what we hear in the Gospel, His message is demanding. This passage only makes sense when we bear in mind that Jesus always calls us to more, to a deeper way of looking at life. The wisdom of the world is often senseless, as we are seeing these days all around us. Jesus invites us to long for a simpler life, an uncomplicated way of looking at our own existence. Only if we can rise above the cares, the values and the lies we hear in the marketplace, can we ever expect to find our way to God for eternity.

Jesus is not condemning wealth or a good name, nor is He encouraging destitution or a gloomy face. He offers us, rather, a reminder that we are pilgrims, just passing through on our way to the promise of union with Him. And we won’t have to wait for heaven to see this. Right now we can strive to loosen our hold on the things we think we need to make us happy, and instead see every moment as a grace of purification of our desires. And we can come to embrace hardship for the sake of the Gospel, even when we feel it will kill us to do so. To recognize all things as permitted by God to make us holy seems counter intuitive at best, but clarifies our vision.