Sunday Gospel Reflection (February 16, 2025)

In the readings for this Sunday, we are given an interesting presentation of what are called the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. They do not do so in the way one would expect, but present 

Jeremiah Warns of Unscrupulous Faith

“Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings” is a provocative way to begin a verse. Jeremiah warns us of where we put our faith and that humans, as he experienced in his own life, will let us down. However, he recognizes that blessings will come from faith in God because it is God who always keeps his promises. What is especially profound is that it is also from Jeremiah where we get the prophesied promise of the “New Covenant,” which Jesus will refer to at the Last Supper when instituting the Eucharist. It is in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, where Christians place their hope.

The Psalmist and St. Paul Show Us in Whom and Where Our Hope Lies

“Blessed are they that hope in the Lord” is our repeated response. We must be reminded of hope because it is not that which is right in front of us, but always ahead of us. It is in the Resurrection that this hope will be realized, not only the resurrection of Jesus but the general resurrection of the whole “Body of Christ.” This is the primary focus of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, our second reading. We begin to share in the experience of the Resurrection of Jesus, and the general Resurrection, when we receive the Body of Christ, appropriately called the “Sacrament of Charity” because it is Charity Himself whom we are receiving.

By Living Charity We Become Charity

“Blessed are you” is probably the most repeated phrase that Jesus himself says in all the Gospels when you account for today’s readings as well as Matthew account of the Beatitudes and the other various times it appears (“Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah”). This is fitting as blessing is what love does and Jesus is who Love is. We participate in these blessings to the degree we participate in love. We do this through out preference of the poor, hungry and sorrowful. It is not that they necessarily love better, though Jesus would say they are more predisposed to mercy, but to the degree we identify with the poor, hungry and sorrowful we are loving better. This is because we are more like Jesus, who identified with poverty, hunger and sorrow itself out of his infinite love.