Placing our Trust in God
February 16, 2025 | 6th Sunday in ordinary time, Year C
Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26.
On this 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, we focus on trusting in God, the power of the resurrection, and true happiness. Such happiness will depend on our attitude of relying on God and finding hope in Jesus Christ’s resurrection. By giving us the Litany of the Beatitudes, Jesus is teaching us to live by God’s ways daily. Contrary to our worldly understanding, Jesus promises blessings to the poor, mourning, meek, and others who follow God’s path. We are hereby invited to acknowledge Jesus as the source of comfort, justice, and peace.
Trust in God:
In the first reading, Prophet Jeremiah sets up against the backdrop of the strategy of Juda’s leaders to form an alliance with Egypt against the Babylonians. Jeremiah warns against trusting in human strength (military and political alliances) and calls for trust in God. True happiness comes from relying on God, not on ourselves. Our blessings or curses depend on our decision to put our trust on God or on human beings and worldly things. The responsorial psalm sums it up so kindly when it says:
“Blessed the man who hopes in the Lord…who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the ways of sinners” (Ps 1:1).
Such a hope gives us the certitude of the eternal, which St. Paul defends in the second reading. Our faith will be useless if it were not rooted on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Our true happiness is not based on the visible things that we possess, but on the promise of eternity by Jesus. Hence his litany of the woes and beatitudes.
True Happiness
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching on the plain and here, he gives us both the blessings and the warnings of woe. Those who put their full trust in God, such as the poor and hungry will find total satisfaction in the Lord now and in their future. However, those who are rich, full of themselves, and who are laughing now should remember that their comfort is temporary. They need therefore to seek true happiness by putting their trust in God and sharing their temporary resources with the needy. By doing so they are like “a tree planted near running water that yields its fruits in due season, and whose leaves never fade.” Ps 1).
Jesus himself, who rose from the dead, is the source of such happiness. By living according to Jesus’ own way of life, we are assured of his unfailing help. With Saint Edith Stein we can conclude:
“Lay all your cares about the future trustingly in God’s hands, and let yourself be guided by the Lord just like a little child.”
Lord help us to trust in you and not in ourselves. Strengthen our faith in the resurrection and guide us to seek true happiness in your blessings! Amen.
Fr. Georges Roger BIDZOGO SAC
Living the Gospel this week. Two ways of Living
Psalm 1 invites us to think about two ways of living: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. Those who choose to avoid sin and delight in God’s law. They are blessed. They are like a strong tree with deep roots, stable and fruitful. They grow and prosper under God’s care. There are also those who refuse to choose this way. They are cursed. Please read and pray with Psalm 1.
Fr. Georges Roger BIDZOGO SAC