Hope

Usually, in the way the Lectionary is arranged, the First reading from the Hebrew scriptures is chosen for its connection with the Gospel. The second reading, often from the letters of the Apostles or St. Paul, has less of a connection with the Gospel. And yet, I often find that the second reading holds the key that unlocks a powerful message from the Gospel.  Todays are just such an example.

Let’s start with the reading from the prophet Jeremiah.

Cursed or blessed: Which would we rather be?

Blessed, of course.

But how is it that we are blessed? It has to do with where we place our trust.

As human beings, we are limited. We can trust in our humanity, but in the end we will die. And if all we have done is trust ourselves or other human beings, there will be nothing left! It’s over.

We need to turn our hearts to God. Otherwise, we are a barren bush, a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.

Ah! But if we trust in the Lord, then we have hope.

Hope gives us what we need most. In troubled times, it sustains us. When things have gone terribly wrong, we still have hope.

You see, our ultimate end – death or life – is determined by the object of our trust.

If we trust in Jesus, we have hope. We will see the resurrection of the Body and life everlasting. Trusting only in humanity ends in death – eternally.

The Gospel reading today is St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes.

Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the hated.

Poor – why?

The poor know that they need God. They have come to that realization.

We are all poor at times – maybe not financially – but in other ways.

We may face a serious problem and not know what to do about it.

Maybe we have an illness that just does not go away.

Maybe we have a conflict with someone that we just can’t seem to resolve.

We are poor because we do not have what we need in order to do what we need to do.

When we are poor, we realize that we cannot make it on my own. We know that we need help. we need God. We cannot trust in ourselves self.  We must turn to God.

Hungry – Why?

Hunger is motivating.

We go to the kitchen and look for something to satisfy our hunger.

We hunger for more than food. We hunger for knowledge, for friendship, for meaning and purpose in life. We hunger for love.

When we hunger – we seek – and when we seek, we find!

Weeping – Why?

We weep because we have known love. We have known goodness, beauty and truth, and now it is gone, and we weep.  However, we will experience it again – with faith in Jesus Christ and we hold on to that hope.

Hated – Why?

I am not talking about being hated because we are mean, or selfish, or abusive, or arrogant or for any other reason that we bring on ourselves. That’s our fault.

But sometimes we are hated because we have taken a stand for what is right.

Others who disagree with us are quick to condemn us. They hate us because we challenge their belief system. But we are OK with their condemnation because stand on the solid rock of our Lord and Savior.

“Behold,” Jesus tells us, “Your reward will be great in heaven.”

Yet if we are rich, and filled, and popular, and always happy now because we spend all our time seeking only that which will bring us pleasure– and yet do not follow Jesus, we are headed for emptiness and the sorrow of the grave. Without Jesus, we have no hope!

I think there is nothing worse than being without hope.

If we have hope, we have the possibility of a better future.

Hope enables us to try again.

Now, here’s where our second reading comes in. Our hope is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. No resurrection – no hope!

Hope enables us to live a life of virtue no matter what is happening around us.

CCC tells us that virtue is the habitual and firm disposition to do good. Every day. Every way. We can eliminate vice in our lives, but that is not enough. We also need to grow in virtue. We grow in virtue by practicing doing what is right.

Living a life of hope and practicing virtue is not easy, but it is so much better than the alternative. Being a follower of Jesus is not something that we do alone. We come here and gather strength from each other. We gather strength from these readings. We gather strength by praying together. We gather strength from good music that inspires us. But most of all, we gather strength from Jesus who promised that He would be with us until the end of the age. He gives himself to us in the Eucharist.

We trust in Jesus. We surrender to his will for us. We receive him and believe in him. Then we go out and live what we believe. Our life, then, becomes a witness to the hope we have as followers of Jesus.

Let’s be a people of home.