In this Sunday\u2019s readings, the Lord illustrates two paths: one of life and blessedness, and one of death and decay.\u00a0 Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord warns us not to put our trust in mere mortals, especially if in doing so, we turn our hearts from God.\u00a0 To cease trusting in God is to completely cut ourselves off from Him.\u00a0 Jeremiah uses the image of a shrub in the desert, doomed to decay amidst the uninhabitable wasteland.<\/p>\n
In our sin, even when help is close by \u201cwe shall not see relief\u201d (Jer 17:6), not because there is no help to be found, but because we\u2019ve stopped searching and hoping for it, or worse, have refused to accept it.\u00a0 God is always trying to break through to us; He is tirelessly pursuing us, to extend His loving stream of grace to us.\u00a0 But when we turn our hearts from Him, and place our trust solely in ourselves and in the spirit of the world, His grace cannot work in our hearts.\u00a0 God\u2019s \u201coutpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us\u201d (CCC 2840).\u00a0 In a very real way, we have control over God\u2019s mercy, inasmuch as we can refuse to accept it.\u00a0 If we have refused to forgive others, or if we have turned ourselves away from God, let us heed this message and look for opportunities to open our hearts to forgiving others, so that God\u2019s forgiveness may work in us.\u00a0 In doing so, we will be one step closer to reorienting ourselves towards the Lord.\u00a0 When we trust in Him, and allow His grace to work in us and through us, so that even in times of adversity and trial, we shall remain steadfast, as trees \u201cwho shall not fear when heat comes, whose leaves shall stay green\u201d (Jer 17:8).<\/p>\n
In the Gospel, Jesus takes this a step further, and completely subverts our common notions of blessedness.\u00a0 Even Christians often speak of blessedness as \u201creceiving good things from God.\u201d\u00a0 Indeed, this is part of it, but Christ\u2019s revelation is much richer than material gain or financial security.\u00a0 Our society honours the rich and famous, the healthy and powerful.\u00a0 But Christ declares: \u201cBlessed are the poor.\u00a0 Blessed are the hungry\u201d (Lk 6:20-21).\u00a0 How can these people be blessed? Beati<\/em> in Latin, Makarioi<\/em> in Greek, means blessedness, but it also means Happy<\/em>.\u00a0 They poor, the hungry, and the oppressed can be happy because even in the state of poverty, the one thing that can never be taken away is faith, trust, and hope in God.\u00a0 The riches of the world can never ultimately satisfy.\u00a0 Human thirst for more<\/em> will never by quenched.\u00a0 Trust in the world will finally fail.\u00a0 But those who trust in God, not matter what the world throws their way, will be blessed and happy.<\/p>\n Friends, our true happiness and fulfillment are in God alone.\u00a0 He alone satisfies every good desire of our heart.\u00a0 Heaven is our true homeland and while we are on pilgrimage here on earth let us remember that the good things of the world are fading away.\u00a0 When we place our hope in God and allow his grace to guide us, wherever our stormy voyage may lead He will be travelling at our side (cf. Sophocles, Antigone,<\/em> 540).\u00a0 In this, whether we are rich or poor, healthy or sick, full or hungry, with the love of God in our hearts we will fare well.<\/p>\n Blessings on you all, and have a blessed and happy Sunday.<\/p>\n Kevin Ponte<\/strong> – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n Fot. Andrik Langfield Petrides\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[173,174,44,175],"class_list":["post-1981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider","tag-blessedness","tag-christians","tag-god","tag-kevin-ponte"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n