6th Sunday
13th February 2022
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh
My friends,
Its fascinating to observe the speed with which we have moved from Covid to Inflation! While we know well the Omicron variant is rampant it has gone way down in our list of concerns to focus once again on economic matters. On one level it’s understandable – life has to go on, bills have to be paid. Still, it may be saying something to us about our expectations despite what we have been through.
Wherever we are in the cycle of things, the Gospel – the mind and vision of the Lord Jesus always has a question or insight for us. Because our constant temptation is to rely on ourselves and take care of ourselves, we need to keep our hearts and minds open to greater reality of life which the Creator and giver of life has called us to. We can test where we fit on the scale of faith and trust in the Lord in the nature and manner of our prayer, because it is in our prayer, we consciously give expression to our faith. This is true of our families also.
Both the words of Jeremiah and the Responsorial Psalm uses the image of the tree by the waters edge which is constantly hydrated by the flowing waters as akin to the one who places their trust in the Lord as continually blessed with a spirit of hope in life.
We read St. Luke’s account of the Beatitudes, Jesus’ words are stunning in their simplicity and confounding in their implications.
How can one seriously say that the poor are blessed or the hungry and the bereaved? How can those subject to hatred and rejection possibly feel blessed?
It’s a great paradox at the heart of the teaching of Jesus – that in giving we receive, in forgiveness we experience mercy, in sacrifice and self-surrender we experience grace. Jesus, does not spare those who live life focussed on themselves alone – whose preoccupation is wealth, reputation and self-indulgence.
For the person of faith and trust in God, the days given us are short in the grand scheme of things. As we emerge from the Covid experience it would be a pity if we forgot what it may have taught us in terms of care for those who suffer.
