HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

Feb 16, 2025

202

Listen Read

First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (17:5-8)

Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: it fears not the heat when it comes; its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (1:1-2, 3-4, 6)

(R) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. (R)

He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. (R)

Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (15:12, 16-20)

Brothers and sisters: If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (6:17, 20-26)

Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

An 80-year-old man was out by a pond one day when a frog jumped onto a lily pad nearby. "Excuse me Sir", said the frog, "I may appear to be just a frog, but, you know, I'm actually a beautiful princess. A witch put a curse on me to keep me in this form. The only thing that can break this curse is a kiss of a man. Sir, if you kiss me and break this curse, I'll turn back into a beautiful princess and I'll marry you and love you forever. So, what do you say?" The man thought for a moment and then picked up the frog and put it in his pocket and continued his walk. "Didn't you hear me, Sir?", said the frog, "I said if you kiss me, I'll turn back into a beautiful princess and I'll marry you and love your forever". "Eh", said the man, "I'm 80 years old. At this point I think I'd rather have a talking frog."

In today's first reading, the prophet Jeremiah describes the Lord saying the outcome of a man's life: cursed or blessed, Jeremiah (17:5-8). What does it mean to be cursed or blessed, especially by God? In the Bible, to be cursed by God means that God deliberately allows or inflicts sorrow, pain, misery, unhappiness, destruction, and ultimately death on His people. Contrarily, to be blessed by God means that the same God intentionally provides His people in abundance all the good things in life: knowledge, wisdom, health, protection, comfort, hope, wealth, and ultimately joy-filled life.

The people of Judah, to whom Jeremiah addressed today's prophecy about 600 years before Christ, knew all too well about the seriousness of the curse of God. Because these prophecies were happening right before their eyes. After the reign of King Solomon, about 930 years before Christ, the kingdom of Israel split into two: the kingdom of Israel in the north with ten tribes and the kingdom of Judah in the South with two tribes. However, the kingdom of Israel quickly fell into idolatry and sin. As a result, around 720 BC, God permitted the Assyrians to conquer Israel and take its people as captives. Consequently, the kings and the people of Judah also began to fear the Assyrians followed by the Babylonians which slowly led them to drift away from their God, Yahweh. Instead of running to their God for refuge and ask Him for help, they started to accumulate more wealth, fortify their cities with walls, towers, and gates, increase the number of soldiers and seek alliances with smaller nations like Egypt, 2 Chronicles (14: 6-15; 17:19). They thought if they just acquired physical and material resources and secure alliances, they would be safe.

They also turned to religious objects and rituals. They believed that as long as they had the glorious Temple in Jerusalem and performed all the sacrifices as part of their worship rituals, God would protect, provide, and care for them. But apparently all their ritual sacrifices became roten and meaningless because their hearts were far from God and their lives contradicted His law. They had turned their backs on God and sought their satisfaction somewhere else. They were committing many other horrible sins, such as idolatry, murder, theft, adultery, oppression, exploitation of the poor, and so on. Many books of the Old Testament tell us that Judah's sins were greater and worse than those of Sodom and Israel, Ezekiel (16:47-51), Jeremiah (2:13; 3:11) and 2 Kings (21:11-14).

It was in this context that Jeremiah reminded the people of the importance of placing their trust and confidence in God. In today's passage, he makes a contrast between trusting in man and trusting in the Lord. For that he uses two different plants as examples: "a barren bush and a verdant tree". The prophet begins by saying that the man who trusts in human beings is cursed. Because he looks to other human beings for hope and deliverance, he relies on his own strength, knowledge, and wisdom, and he rejects God and His teachings, (v.5). The prophet then compares such a man to a dry, barren, lifeless bush in the desert thereby saying the man who trusts in man will end up disappointed, empty and unfruitful, (v.6). Contrarily, the prophet says that the man who trusts in the Lord is richly blessed, (v.7). The prophet then describes such a man to a tree planted by waters, deeply rooted, and remaining green and fruitful even during drought and heat thereby saying the man who trusts in God will be steady, resilient, and fruitful, regardless of life's circumstances, (v.8).

What is the message for us?

As believers in Christ, we are no longer under God's curse and judgment. We came into this world with the curse upon us. We were born under the curse of sin which is death that we inherited from the "first man, Adam." But Jesus came and delivered us from the curse through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and resurrection. St Paul says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy (21:23): "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole", Galatians (3:13). However, that does not mean God will spare us of the natural consequences of our sin. God is never going to punish us when we sin, but we may be convicted of our sin by the Spirit and may be disciplined by God for our own good so that we may become holy like Him. God does not punish us because He loves us as His children, Hebrews (12:4-12). God may also use discipline to teach us not to presume upon His grace. We are not to take God's mercy for granted or assume His forgiveness while knowingly continuing in a life of sin, or condemn sin in others while justifying our shortcomings and sins.
Jeremiah pleaded with the people of Judah to have hope and confidence in God for strength, wisdom, protection, security, and provision. He also repeatedly warned them that if they refused to mend their ways and keep God's commandments, they would suffer the consequences the same way as Israel. But they ignored his warnings and kept on sinning against the Lord. Their continual disobedience and unfaithfulness eventually led to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its Temple, and their eventual exile to Babylon where God allowed them to face hard times, 2 Kings (25:1-21) and Jeremiah (44:11-14). This is something that the people of Judah brought upon themselves 150 years after the fall of Israel. They had a choice between a curse and a blessing and they chose the curse. When they failed to trust the Lord against other human powers, they automatically chose the curse of death instead of the blessing of life.
This prophetic message was not just for the people of Jeremiah's time but also to all the generations that would come afterwards, including our generation about the way to curse and the way to blessing, both individually and communally. God has given the choice between being blessed or being cursed. It is up to us to choose whether our life will be blessed or cursed. The deciding factor as to whether we will be blessed or cursed depends solely on our trust in God.
If we want to be blessed, we must, first and foremost, wholeheartedly trust in the Lord. We must use the spiritual exercises such as worship, prayer and study of the scriptures to increase our trust and faith in Him. We must be in communion with God and others, drawing nourishment, refreshment and life from Him, like a tree planted by streams of water. We must wholly rely upon God's promises, wisdom, power, and love to help us in all circumstances instead of relying on our own understanding, wisdom, energy, strength, and resources like a "barren bush in the desert". Secondly, we must not stop with wishing and praying that we will "stay blessed", but also feel or recognize and acknowledge the blessing. Anything good comes from God. For those who trust in the Lord, nothing is a coincidence or by accident.

Everything has a plan or a purpose. So, we must always be careful not to take God's blessing for granted. We must keep our eyes and ears open for God, watch for His works, be alert for signs of his presence and power and give Him thanks for that. Lastly, we must share the blessing with others so that we may stay blessed continually. The Bible tells us that a faithful man will have many blessings, Genesis (15:6), Proverbs (28:20), Matthew (24:13) and James (1:12). May the Lord find us faithful and obedient.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

Content Options

to download the audio file Sign In » or Register ».
generate Google Translate Layout ».
share this homily via:

Top of Page

More Homilies this Month

Use the Prev or Next buttons to read or listen to the other homilies of the month.

« Prev Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) Next » Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)