Gospel Reflection for Sunday February 13th, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Brian Maher OMI

Ask anyone who is poor is it an enjoyable experience and I am certain they will tell you very plainly that it is not.

Yet, in today’s Gospel Jesus says, “How happy are you who are poor….”

Ask anyone who is hungry or anyone who struggles to feed themselves or their families is it a positive experience and I am certain they will say an emphatic “NO!”

Yet, in today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Happy you who are hungry now….”

Ask anyone who has lost a loved one to COVID or anyone who is suffering physical, emotional, or spiritual pain are they ‘happy’ and they will probably, and rightly, become angry at your lack of sensitivity.

Yet, in today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Happy you who weep now….”

Ask anyone who has suffered abuse of any kind, or anyone suffering injustice or discrimination, do they feel like ‘rejoicing’ and ‘dancing for joy’ and one look into their eyes will tell their truth.

Yet, in today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Happy are you when people hate you, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal….”

So, what is happening here?

Leonard Cohen, a wonderful Canadian singer/songwriter, in his song ‘Democracy’ said:

            “(I’ve read)…the staggering account

            of the Sermon on the Mount

            which I don’t pretend to understand at all.”

There is an honesty in these lyrics which I find attractive. More than that, there is a sensitivity to what Jesus is saying which is very real. Perhaps in saying that he doesn’t “understand at all” what Jesus means, he is showing far more understanding of the words than those who wax eloquent about them!

There are times when we hear something which leaves us scratching our heads, knowing we have heard something extremely important, yet not quite getting it. The Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew’s Gospel, or Luke’s version of the same thing, is exactly this – head-scratchingly important, yet just beyond our understanding.

The second section of the Gospel is even more stark and confounding: “Alas for you who are rich now, who have your fill now, who laugh now, who are well thought of now, because you will go hungry, mourn and weep!”

Surely, having the security of wealth, the guarantee of enough to eat, laughter and the respect of others are what all of us work and strive for? Are they not our prayer for our children as they grow up?

Why would Jesus, or anyone else, warn us against them?

I am not going to attempt to answer these questions. To do so would be to do precisely what I warned about earlier. Rather, I will scratch my head, getting partial glimpses of what Jesus might be saying, yet not quite able to say I understand it.

However, there are things I understand and am certain of:

I am certain that Jesus, in every encounter he had with others, was sensitive and understanding.

I am certain that Jesus was always forgiving, no matter what the person had done.

I am certain that Jesus reached out with gentleness to children and compassion to the poor and suffering.

I am certain that Jesus not only healed, but wanted to heal, all who suffered.

I am certain that Jesus laughed with his friends, ate and drank well, and had the respect of all who listened to him in an open and unbiased way.

I am certain that Jesus wanted nothing more than “that we have life and have it to the full.”

I am certain that Jesus suffered terribly and died rather than compromise the message of God’s love he came to share with us.

I am certain he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday and is still – now – with us.

This is the Jesus I meet in the Gospels. It is the Jesus I am certain of.

It is, therefore, the Jesus of today’s Gospel – a sensitive, forgiving, compassionate and understanding Jesus who wants us to be happy, to laugh, to have our fill and to be respected.

So, what might I say about what we read today?

When I think of my own life, I know that every day I say many things, most of them positive, I hope, but also some of them negative depending on my mood, my health, my level of tiredness and many other things. If a person were to jot down all the things I said in a single day and then, to make them easy to access, gathered them together in one place and wrote them down as “my sayings” without giving them a context, mood or setting, they might come across in places overly critical, or negative or strange.

Those who were telling the stories of Jesus and who then wanted to write down what he said and did, so that it would be accurate and not lost, grouped together collections of ‘his sayings’ to share with the first Christian Communities. They were not necessarily spoken at the same time or in a single place. They are more likely individual sayings, spoken at different times, and later grouped together by a common theme or maybe even word (“happy”, “alas” for example).

Looked at together, as we do today, they may seem overstated or even harsh but, in context, they fit perfectly with the message of Jesus and the example of his life.

The message of Jesus constantly challenged his hearers. The way of life he called them to, the values he asked them to make part of their lives are all counter cultural. They call for a way of life diametrically opposed to that accepted by society. “Love your enemies”, “turn the other cheek”, “the worker who works for one hour gets the same pay as the one who works for twelve hours” are all examples of the same thing.

Just a few weeks ago, in the Gospel, we were with Jesus in the synagogue as he began his ministry. “He sent me to bring Good News to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind and to set the downtrodden free.”

Today, though it sounds a bit harsher, Jesus says the same thing. The poor, the hungry, the prisoner, the downtrodden are just as loved, just as important, just as valuable as the wealthy, the powerful and the popular. They may be poor now, but in the eternal sight of God they are the same, equal to and as valuable as anyone else.

More than that, the life of Jesus showed us that ‘saying’ is not enough. To be followers of Jesus we must also try constantly to turn what we say into ‘action’. It is not enough to ‘say’ that we respect and value the poor. The question Jesus asks is, “What are you ‘doing’ to show that you believe this?”

Jesus saved his harshest criticism for those he called ‘hypocrites’ – those who ‘say’ but do not ‘do’!’

His warnings here, “Alas for you…rich, with plenty, content, respected…” all fit perfectly with his call to ‘practise what we preach’. Four of them, written one after the other, seem a bit hard, maybe, but that they fit perfectly with the call and values of Jesus there is no doubt.

Let us remember when we listen to this Gospel today, that Jesus calls each one of us to the same way of life. It is counter cultural; it is challenging; it is difficult; it is what we are called to live.

It is not enough for us to say that we value the poor and the downtrodden if we walk past the homeless person on the street or fail to be moved to tears by the images of the drowned immigrants washed up on our shores or starving and humiliated in detention camps.

It is not easy to hear this. It is not easy for me to hear it, even as I write it. But it is today’s Gospel.

The poor, the hungry, the downtrodden – each and every individual person – is just as loved, just as valuable as the richest, best educated, most powerful person in the world…… and alas for us if we fail to see that and act on it.  

Many thanks,

Brian.

If you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection you would like to share, I would be delighted to hear from you – please feel free to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie

Happy are you who are poor, who are hungry, who weep