Reflection on the Gospel of the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
Luke 6:17, 20-26 |
Today’s Gospel is a parallel from Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. It is a reflection of an ideal Christian life. The teaching seems to be a paradox of blessings and woes but the heart of the message is who does your heart belong to you? What does it long for? Where will it find peace? Where will it find happiness?
The lives of the Saints are a true testament of people who lived the Sermon on the Mount. They found peace in the midst of uncertainty, trials, sadness and even forgave their persecutors. How was it possible for them to find strength, hope, happiness and joy with very little? The answer is Jesus Himself. It’s Jesus who becomes their strength, their hope, their joy, their everything. So if Jesus is everything, the rest becomes nothing.
The Gospel today challenges us to recalibrate our lives and live the Gospel in our mundane of everyday. It challenges us to make Jesus the source and center of our whole lives. Making Jesus the center of our lives is a journey we need to take with its twists and turns. We need to cooperate with Him and sometimes learn to surrender rather than shutting Him out. The moment we find the Sermon on the Mount too idealistic or unrealistic or impractical to live, it is a reflection of our difficult, failing faith in Jesus.
