Blessed is the one who delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law, day and night.
The Gospel reading for today is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, and it is offered from the plain, rather than the mount, as we see in Matthew’s Gospel. The sermon begins with contrasting images of the blessings and the woes. These contrasting blessings and woes point to one of the major themes in Luke’s Gospel: the great reversal being realized in the coming of the kingdom of God. Luke places a special emphasis on the social and economic conditions that created the significant disparity among the people. Throughout his public ministry, Jesus invited his followers to trust in God and be open to the kingdom of God where God’s blessings and wisdom are abundant.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, wrote “that the Beatitudes present a sort of veiled interior biography of Jesus.” He has brought himself to the level of his apostles. He looks each one in the eye and tells each one who he is. If they wish to be united with him in his ministry, this is what it will be like. They will be poor. Jesus himself has no place to lay his head, therefore, they will be hungry as he is hungry. They will weep as he weeps over Jerusalem and at the grave of Lazarus. They will be persecuted as he is persecuted, excluded, insulted, and denounced as evil. This is the road map of discipleship. Jesus turns commonsense thinking upside down. He identifies himself with the marginalized. He calls his closest followers to do the same. He then says the unthinkable. These are blessed! These are the happy ones! These will be rewarded greatly in heaven! We are challenged, therefore, to look at the blessings and woes of our lives and see them both as gifts that allow us to become closer to Christ.
This week Pope Francis wrote to the US Bishops to encourage them amidst the political tensions of our day. One line of that letter summarizes the call to live lives in solidarity with the marginalized:
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that, little by little, extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings! The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation.”
In response to the Holy Father, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, said:
“As successor to Saint Peter, you call not only every Catholic, but every Christian, to what unites us in faith – offering the hope of Jesus Christ to every person, citizen and immigrant alike. In these times of fear and confusion, we must be ready to answer our Savior’s question, “what have you done for the least of these?’”
Jesus speaks to us this week, eye to eye, with the caution of woeful words and the encouragement to live lives that are truly blessed and lived with a sacrificial love for all.
St. Rose Blood Drive – The New York Blood Center (NYBC) recently declared a blood emergency due to a significant drop in blood donations. NYBC has seen a nearly 30% drop in donations in recent weeks which has resulted in 6,500 fewer donations and crippled the region’s blood supply. In response, our parish is hosting a Blood Drive this Tuesday, February 18 from 1:00-7:00 pm in the school auditorium. A representative from NYBC will be at masses this weekend to encourage blood donation and to assist registering donors. You may sign up directly at nybc.org/sponsor and use code 0634.
CATHOLIC FAITH NETWORK TELETHON – I encourage you to join me in supporting next weekend’s telethon in support of the evangelizing work of our diocesan television network. Beginning on Saturday, February 22 from 2:00 pm and continuing through Monday, February 24 at 8:30 am, the telethon can be viewed on Optimum, channel 29/137; Verizon FiOS TV channel 296; and Spectrum, channel 162/471 and streaming on Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Android TV, and Apple TV. Joining the many guests and performers will be students from St. Rose of Lima School. Your financial and viewing support make a difference in helping the church and our faith to be present in a multimedia world as well as connecting us with the faithful around the nation and world. You can make your secure donation at https://www.catholicfaithnetwork.org/donate.
THANK YOU – This week I received a card thanking the parish for our support of the Friar Suppliers mission in Haiti, the beneficiary of our Thanksgiving collection. Our donation of $5,250 is being used to purchase solar panels for an orphanage serving handicapped children. The panels will provide power for a washing machine that will save the sisters a 40-minute walk to and from the river where they currently wash the children’s clothes. Your generosity has made a significant impact to this mission, providing them with a necessity that we take for granted.
Peace,
