Fr Leslie Miranda.
| | 00 | | Jer 17: 5-8, 1Cor 15: 12, 16-20, Lk 6: 17, 20-20 | | February,14 | | 6th Sunday of the year | In today’s Gospel Luke relates the Lord’s sermon on level ground. It has four beatitudes and four woes or maledictions. The woes are found only in Luke, They cast Christ into a prophetic role. Luke is a man of contrasts. We have, therefore, the four blessedness of the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the persecuted. In contrast, we have the four woes of the rich, the full, the merry and the popular.
Christ is not against riches, comforts, merriment or popularity. He wants us to know that these four worldly measures are not necessary for those who desire to belong to the Kingdom of God. His woes are not threats, rather regrets, for those who make prosperity, comforts, merrymaking and popularity their goals in life.
Every person desires to become Mr. Success. To get to the top of the ladder of success, people have no scruples about |
| | exploiting others. The Jews offered Christ the crown of success when they had their fill. He fled when they wanted to make Him King. These same Jews later procured for him the crown of failure, and he did not hesitate to wear it. He used it as a stepping-stone to glory. The crown of Good Friday and the crown of Easter were gifts from His Father. A follower of Christ, too, will have to wear the one of Friday to merit the other of Sunday. Luke tells us that Christ had spent the night in prayer on the mountain, and then He chose His twelve. He came down and stopped at a place of level ground. Here He was joined by a large crowd of His disciples and also by a multitude of people. They came from great distances, as far south as Jerusalem and as far north as Tyre ...Contd. | | |
|
