Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
6th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle C)
Readings:
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalm 1:1-4, 6
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: Blessings and Curses
The Sinai Covenant was a formal relationship that bound Yahweh
the Great King to the children of Israel as His faithful vassal people. There
were promised blessings for the people if they persisted in obedience to the laws
of the covenant (Lev 26:3-13; Dt 28:1-14), but there were also judgments for
disobedience (Lev 26:14-43; Dt 28:15-68). Under the Sinai Covenant, the
blessings and judgments were material and temporal; however, they are spiritual
and eternal under the New Covenant in Christ Jesus.
The First Reading and Psalm Reading contrast God's blessings for the righteous, who put their trust and hope in God, with judgments against the wicked who separate themselves from God by their free-will actions through engaging in sin, thereby condemning themselves to the curse of destruction (CCC 1037).
In the First Reading, the prophet Jeremiah contrasts the arid and fruitless lives of those who trust only in themselves or others with those who live spiritually nourished lives because they have faith in God to provide for them, even in times of distress. Our Psalm Reading is a preface to the entire Book of Psalms. It opens the book by contrasting the destiny of the good and the wicked, using vivid similes to describe the choices in life between following the good and righteous path or following the way of sin that leads to destruction.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul addresses the Christian belief in a bodily resurrection when Christ returns in the Parousia (Appearing) of His Second Advent (CCC 769 1001). He forcefully defends the resurrection of Christ as an essential truth of the Christian faith and not an end in itself. Furthermore, he states that by rising from the dead, Christ began the completion of God's work of redemption that will come in the resurrection of the just and the wicked at the end of the Age of Humanity, and the eternal blessing that will follow for the righteous (CCC 1042-50). When Christ returns, all humanity will arise bodily as the completion of the final human harvest in God's call to the Last Judgment that will end for the just in the blessing of eternity with Christ in His heavenly Kingdom (1 Thess 4:16; Rev 20:11-15; CCC 1038-41).
Both the First Reading and the Responsorial Psalm prepare us for the Gospel Reading when Jesus addressed issues of social justice in His Sermon on the Plain. He promises eternal blessings to those who have suffered from social injustice during their earthly lives. He also condemns the rich who squandered the material blessings God gave them by ignoring the plight of the poor and announces the judgments they will face in eternity for having lived a temporal life of plenty while immune to the suffering of others.
The First Reading Jeremiah 17:5-8 ~ Blessed is the One
who Trusts Yahweh
5Thus 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. 6 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. 7
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. 8 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.
In this poetic passage, the 6th-century BC prophet Jeremiah contrasts the arid and fruitless lives of those who trust only in themselves or other human beings with those who live spiritually nourished lives because they have faith in God to provide for them even in times of distress.
| The cursed who separate themselves from God | The blessed who are in union with God |
| He trusts in other human beings | He places his trust in Yahweh |
| He rejects the spiritual in favor of the material | He places his hope in Yahweh |
| He is like a barren bush in the desert | He is like a tree planted beside life-giving water |
| His life is as barren and fruitless as a bush growing in unproductive ground | His life is fruitful like a tree that is continually nourished even in times of distress |
In verse 8, "heat" and "drought" represent the struggles every human being faces in a world full of sin, while "water" is a symbol of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of those who are in union with God, placing their hope and trust in Him. Even though the blessed one who trusts in God will encounter the same dangers others face, the power of God will sustain him in his struggles. He will continue to bear the spiritual fruit of righteousness that promises an ever "green" eternal reward from the waters of the "stream" of everlasting life.
Responsorial Psalm 1:1-4, 6 ~ The Blessed and the Wicked
The response is: "Blessed are they who hope in the Lord."
1 Blessed the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor sits in the company of the
insolent, 2 but delights in the law of the LORD and
meditates on his law day and night.
Response:
3 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.
Response:
4 Not so the wicked,
not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. [...] 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the
just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
Response:
Psalm 1 stands as a preface for the Book of Psalms. It opens the book by contrasting the destiny of the righteous and the wicked, using vivid similes to describe the choices in life between following the path of the upright or the way of sin that leads to destruction.
The one "blessed" by God rejects the advice of the wicked and does not join in their activities. Instead, he takes delight in the Law of Yahweh and studies it day and night. The "law of Yahweh" in verse 2 either refers to the Torah (the first five books of the Law attributed to Moses) or more likely to the entire contents of divine teaching and instruction. The ways of the blessed stand in sharp contrast to the "wicked" who distance themselves from God's life-giving presence by their actions. By their free-will actions, engaging in sin, and corrupting others, the wicked condemn themselves to the judgment of destruction (CCC 1033-37).
The Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20 ~ The
Blessed Hope of Eternity
12 If Christ is
preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no
resurrection of the dead? [...] 16 If
the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith
is vain; you are still in your sins. 18 Then
those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in
Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the Firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep.
Some among the Christian community at Corinth apparently denied the promise of bodily resurrection at Christ's Second Coming. Paul answered their false claims with his argument favoring a bodily resurrection at the end of the Age of Humanity, showing the inconsistencies and faulty logic of arguments against it. He forcefully defends the resurrection of Christ as an essential truth of the Christian faith and states that by rising from the dead, Christ completes God's work of redemption.
He states his basic argument twice. First, in verse 16, he writes 16 If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised... His point is if there is no such thing as a bodily resurrection, then it has not taken place even in the case of Jesus's bodily resurrection. Second, in verses 17-19, Paul points to the grave consequence of this denial. Unless Christ was resurrected bodily from death, their faith does not save them, and they are condemned, never to be physically resurrected with Christ. Then, St. Paul gives arguments supporting Christ's resurrection by pointing out what an unfavorable situation we would be in if Jesus had not risen from the dead:
St. Paul concludes his arguments in verse 20 with a triumphant assertion of the reality of Christ's bodily resurrection with positive implications and consequences. He calls Christ the "Fruitfruits" of the resurrection. Under Mosaic Law, the "Firstfruits" were the portion of the harvest offered in thanksgiving to the Lord that implied the consecration of the entire harvest that would follow (Lev 34:26; Dt 26:1-11). Christ's resurrection is not an end in itself. It is not completed but continues in the harvest of souls in every generation of humankind. At Christ's return, all humanity will arise bodily as the completion of the final human harvest in God's call to the Last Judgment that will end for the just in eternity with Christ in His heavenly Kingdom (1 Thes 4:16; Rev 20:11-15).
The Gospel of Luke 6:17, 20-26 ~ The Blessings and Curses
in the Sermon on the Plain
17 Jesus came down
with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with 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. [...] 20 And
raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours. 21 Blessed
are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are
now weeping, for you will laugh. 22 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. 23 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. 24 But woe to you
who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 But woe to you who are filled now, for you
will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. 26 Woe to you when all speak well of you, for
their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.
In Luke 6:12, Jesus and His disciples went up the mountain where He gave the Sermon on the Mount to His Apostles and disciples (Mt 5:1-12). But afterward, they came down to stand on level ground as He began to teach not only the disciples but the people who have gathered. The crowd was composed of Jews from Galilee, Judea, God's holy city of Jerusalem in the south, and the Gentile coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gave a homily on the mountain (Mt Chapters 5-7) that included His spiritual Beatitude teaching. A beatitude (makarios in Greek) is a blessing bestowed by God. There are three major theories that Bible scholars have developed to account for the differences between Matthew's Sermon on the Mount and Luke's Sermon on the Plain:
Most Catholic Biblical scholars, ancient and modern, support the third theory of two separate discourses. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gave His discourse to His Apostles and disciples: When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them (Mt 5:1-2). St. Luke includes the information that on the mountain top Jesus chose some of His disciples to be His Apostles: 12 In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13 When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles (Lk 6:12-13). In Luke's Gospel, Jesus descended the mountain with His disciples after a night of teaching and prayer, and then He directed His discourse to the crowds of people as well as to a larger group of disciples who came to hear Him preach: In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God ... And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground (Lk 6:12, 17a).
In St. Matthew's Gospel, the first part of His message was a spiritual teaching composed of seven or eight blessings (depending on how one counts them) and resulting in seven or eight promises that we call "the Beatitudes." However, in St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus addressed four social justice issues followed by four judgments directed against those who abuse the poor and perpetuate social injustice.
It is an important distinction that Jesus presented the Beatitudes in St. Matthew's Gospel to His disciples, believers who had already come to acknowledge His authority (Mt 5:1). They were ready to receive teaching on how Jesus had come to transform the old Sinai Covenant by intensifying, internalizing, and fulfilling the Law of Moses. The multitude on the plain, consisting of the poor and crowds coming from near and far, could not have understood or accepted such a profoundly spiritual teaching as the Beatitudes. They were more concerned with the temporal blessings and justice promised to them through obedience to the old covenant Law (Lev 26:3-13; Dt 28:1-14).
Jesus's Sermon on the Plain in Luke Chapter 6 divides into five parts:
Part I: Blessings and judgments (6:20-26)
Part II: The love of enemies (6:27-36)
Part III: Judging others and the parable of the blind guide (6:37-42)
Part IV: The parable of the tree and its fruit (6:43-45)
Part V: The parable of the two foundations (6:46-49)
Physically, the slope of the land from the site of the Mount of Beatitudes to the Sea of Galilee presents a spectacular natural amphitheater. If Jesus stood on the level plain below the top of the hill where He taught the Sermon on the Mount, He could speak and be easily heard by many people standing or sitting along the hillside as it sloped down to the sea.
Luke 6:20-26 ~ Blessings and Curse Judgments of the
Sermon on the Plain
20 And raising his
eyes toward his disciples he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is
yours.
21 Blessed are you
who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you
who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
22 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. 23
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.
24 But woe to you who
are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 But woe to you
who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
26 Woe to you when
all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this
way.
In the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:20-26, Jesus gave His teaching in the style of the Sinai Covenant treaty sanctions found in Leviticus 26:3-46 and Deuteronomy 28:1-46. He gave a series of blessings and judgments like the blessings for obedience and the judgments for disobedience that God told Moses to present to the Israelites at Sinai. Jesus gave four blessings followed by four judgments. However, Jesus's new Kingdom blessings and judgments are different from those of the Sinai Covenant. The old Sinai Covenant's sanctions of blessings and judgments were all temporal. However, Jesus promised blessings and judgments that were eternal. In verse 20, Jesus raised His eyes to look at His disciples because His teaching, like the Sermon on the Mount, was a challenge to them to lead a radically different life as an example to all those who would dare to follow the Messiah in discipleship.
In His teaching, Jesus raised issues of social justice followed by the blessings He promises to those who have suffered from social injustice in this life (verses 20-23):
Four judgments followed the "blessings" that He pronounced along with the ultimate consequences of judgments. First, he pronounced judgment on the rich who allowed poverty to increase without using the blessings of their material wealth to comfort the poor and suffering. The rich who did not share their wealth would only receive temporal blessings in this life. Their judgment was to remain spiritually impoverished and to have no share in the eternal blessings promised in Jesus's heavenly Kingdom:
Jesus spoke of four different groups to receive blessings and curses. Then He contrasted those groups with a significant fifth category:
Jesus's judgments against the affluent who without conscience oppressed or ignored the poor and suffering are similar to Isaiah's prophecy of judgment in 65:11-16: therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Lo, my servants shall eat, but you shall go hungry; my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame ... (Is 65:13). A true prophet speaks the word of God (Dt 18:17-20). The Pharisees' opposition to God the Son placed them in the category of false prophets.
We must answer this question: Are these blessings and judgments relevant to us today? Should we review this teaching regularly? See Mt 25:31-46 and Lk 12:15-20, 48. There is no question that the blessings and judgments Jesus spoke about are relevant to us. In one's participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation/ Penance, these concerns should be a part of one's examination of conscience. God intends that we share His gifts of material prosperity with the less fortunate. Jesus calls us to continue His earthly mission. It is how He cares for the hungry, the thirsty, and those persecuted unjustly. We are His agents of blessing, and when we accept that responsibility, He blesses us in return.
Catechism References (*indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Jeremiah 17:5-6 (CCC 150*)
1 Corinthians 15:12-14 (CCC 991*); 15:20-22 (CCC 655); 15:20 (CCC 632, 991)
Luke 6:20-22 (CCC 2444*); 6:20 (CCC 2546*); 6:24 (CCC 2547)
Christian hope begins in the giving of the Beatitudes (CCC 1820*, 2546*)
Poverty of heart; the Lord grieves over the rich (CCC 2544*, 2545, 2546*, 2547*)
Hope in the Resurrection (648*, 655*, 989*, 990*, 991*, 1002*, 1003*)
The New Law (CCC 1972*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2016; revised 2022 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.