“ Blessed are you…Woe to you…” Lk 6

Dear parishioners,

Decidedly, today’s readings are full of blessings and curses, of beatitudes and maledictions. But the ones in the first reading and psalm are very different from the ones in today’s gospel.

In the first reading from Jeremiah and in the psalm, we have a simplistic contrast between, on the one hand, the wicked and those who place their trust in the things of this world, and on the other hand,  those who trust in the Lord, whose delight is in the law of the Lord. The former are promised a bitter fate, the latter, much well-being. We all know that this isn’t only simplistic, it’s true only in a very qualified way. We all know people of great virtue, starting with Jesus, whose lives ended in tragedy. And we all know people with no regard whatsoever for God or God’s law who lived lives, beginning to end, of apparently very high quality. The best we can take away from Jeremiah I think, is that we can safely say that all things being equal, those who trust in the Lord and who delight in the law of the Lord will live deeper, more meaning-filled lives than those who don’t. 

The beatitudes and maledictions in the gospel are of a very different type, and they cry out for explanation. The beatitudes are not a problem. They are gospel, pure and simple.  They are, like the beatitudes in Mathew, a promise of healing, consolation, deliverance, and happiness for people who have suffered from poverty and hunger, from sadness and mourning, from persecution for having been Christian. They will live again. They will be happy again. Nothing difficult about that. But the maledictions are more difficult. They seem to be saying that people will be punished for having had a good life. Let’s be honest, we all want to be, if not rich, at least not poor. We all want to have what we need to live and to live well. We all want to laugh sometimes and to be esteemed, if not by everyone, at least by someone. In fact I would argue that we all need to be esteemed by somebody. This passage seems to suggest that to the extent that we succeed in all these things, we will be punished for it. 

But the message of the maledictions is more subtle than this. It is rather “ woe to you who are rich, who are full, who laugh, of whom all speak well, woe to you to the extent that all these things were enough for you, to the extent that your appetite for happiness in this life was satisfied, because people who are satisfied have no incentive to turn to God, to hope in God. They’re not longing and looking for the consolation that only God can give. And that is very sad. Jesus says in another gospel passage, “What good is it if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul?” I worry a lot about people who never long for heaven, because they’ve received heaven enough in this life. Which brings me to the core of the problem. Our Christian gospel, by and large, is a gospel of redemption. It is the gospel of a saving God, who saves those who cry out to him for redemption. This being the case, our gospel can have little appeal for a person in whose life all is well. Of course, there is an easy answer to this concern. Don’t worry. There are very few people in whose lives all is so well that they will never be tempted to turn to a God who redeems, if only he is made known to them. This is certainly true, but if the God of redemption is made known to them at a time in their lives when all is well, will they remember him when the tide turns, and they are in a situation of need of redemption? Add to this the consideration that while there are setbacks in history, like for example the pandemic that we are going through, in the big picture, time and history seem to be clearly on the side of an ever greater quality of life for an ever greater number of people. If this is so, it seems to me that the appeal of our gospel in this world can only wane, not grow. Which is why, I believe, Jesus raises this chilling question in another part of Luke’s gospel: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith in the world?” I think the answer is yes, because he promised he would be with us until the end of the age. But just how much will he find? The question remains open and chilling.

And so I am reduced as always, to a prayer. Dear God, we all want good lives. We all want well-being and happiness. But please, don’t lavish so much quality on our lives that we will lose all interest in you, all hope in you, all hope in your saving help. Never allow us to be utterly satisfied with the goods that this life provides. Keep us always, I pray, hungry for the kingdom of heaven.

Just two things to announce this week: We are creating a new choir for the Sunday 1:00 p.m. mass. It will begin its music ministry on Sunday March 6th, the first Sunday of Lent. If you think you would like to be a part of this choir, just email Rosa Kang, the new director, at  [email protected] 

Also, starting next Sunday February 20th, the Knights of Columbus will be gathering supplies for The Door is Open and the Men’s Shelter. This will take place on the 3rd Sunday of every month until October. Details as to the types of goods they are hoping to collect are in this Sunday’s parish bulletin.

Next Sunday, God willing, we launch the Synod at the parish level.

In the meantime keep safe, God bless, Fr. Guy