Weekly Mass Discussion Thread #76

!catholics !christians happy Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Reading

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.

-Jeremiah 17:5-8

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Responsorial Psalm

R (40:5a) 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 Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

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 Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

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 Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.\

-Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second Reading

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 first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

-1 @Nightcrawler s 15:12, 16-20

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad;

your reward will be great in heaven.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Luke 6:23

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gospel

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."

-Luke 6:17, 20-26

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I find it interesting how famous the Beatitudes are, while what I will now dub the "Reverse Beatitudes" are rarely spoken of. "Woe to you" is not a phrase most people associate with Jesus. "Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings." I think the point is that mortal success is no proof of divine favor or personal holiness, and thus to take pride in such things is foolish.