In the second reading for today, St. Paul reminds us that if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then we are the “most pitiable of all people.” He is right. If Jesus is not raised from the dead? Then we also have no hope in our faith. However, if Jesus is raised, then so do we hope to be raised. That promise is a powerful one. This promise is so powerful that men and women have died for their faith for two thousand years. Then we see in the Gospel reading today the beatitudes. It’s a strange contrast to see Jesus say that the poor will be happy and the rich empty, after hearing in the first reading that a plant rooted in the Gospel will be one that is well watered, nourished and green even during a drought.
Jesus himself was a contradiction of terms. We often have people preaching a prosperity Gospel in which Jesus did all the work, and we get to be the happy little plants growing on the bank with no distress. But blessed are the poor, woe to the rich. Blessed are the hungry, woe to those who are being fed. Rejoice and leap for joy when people bash you and put you down! Jesus did do all the work. On the cross, he is the means of salvation for all mankind. Our work at Baptism though is just beginning. Baptism is the start of putting the roots in the water, stretching out for the stream of grace that leads to our salvation. We though are to be like our Lord and Savior, men and women of the cross. People who mortify the flesh, sacrificing things that the world says we should just partake of, in order to attain more heavenly things.
Today I think it would be good to meditate on this thought: Jesus on the cross, crucified, naked and dying… was a happy man. The crucifix is the image of the green bush on the riverbank, with Jesus not fearing the drought. The evergreen that we use at Christmas reminds us of this fact. That Christ is indeed the way, the truth, and the life. It is in him that we have hope that death is not the end, that somehow we too will be transformed, that the leaves that are our flesh will somehow be brought into a new life, and not just wither and fade away. That’s a hard level of trust to have, but “blessed are they who hope in the Lord.” Remember, when your leaves begin to get dry and your heart is heavy with life taking its toll, Jesus has given us the lifelines of the Sacraments, that help you to stretch out your roots to the stream of salvation, the river of life, Jesus himself.
A reflection on the readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C: February 17th, 2019