OMELIE / Omelie EN

17 feb 2019

17/02/2019 – 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

17/02/2019 – 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Reading 1 JER 17, 5-8   Psalm 1   Reading 2 1COR 15, 12. 16-20   Gospel LK 6, 17. 20-26

The prophet Jeremiah's prophecy is repeated by the Writer of the Psalm too. The images they use are self-explanatory: the tree in the desert, because of scarcity of water, is always in danger, it cannot develop; instead, the tree growing along the river is thriving through the seasons. In the same way, the man who is counting on other men is always at risk, because every man is mortal, fragile, limited, always a sinner and he cannot provide a firm support and reliable nourishment to someone's life. Jeremiah even says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings ", and he is saying it out of experience. Whoever entrusts his life to a man is going to be disappointed. In the same way, on my turn, I should not want someone else to rely on me for hope: they would for sure find themselves sorry for that. This reminds me of mothers and fathers who think and say they live for their children. And their very children are the ones trying to distance themselves from them, because they feel burdened by them as by a heavy rock, they feel themselves bound to them like to a chain. If those parents lived "for the Lord", as the Scripture says, they would not place themselves in front of their children like gods, and their presence would give them a feeling of freedom and peace. Man does not have to confide in man, not even in himself, introducing himself as a safe supporter of others.

When I meet a person that confides in the Lord and lives for Him, I find him free, giving freedom. I would like to live like that. It is necessary a continuous fight against the pagan tendency I carry inside me, but it is worth it. I want to confide in the Lord even when I am asking for someone else's advice: the Lord will inspire him. I confide in the Lord even when I go to the doctor: the God will give him light and knowledge in order to benefit my health, as much as He decides it is needed for me to keep giving a hand in His Kingdom. And therefore, I am still confiding in the Lord when someone comes to me in order to ask for advice or guidance in his choices: I entrust that person to Him and I open myself to listen to His wisdom. "Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord"!

Jesus gives the same pieces of advice again and again using different expressions; He repeats them to His disciples, but also to the entire crowd that is feeding on His word: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours".

The poor Jesus is thinking of, and that are standing in front of Him, are people that have learned not to trust men! They do not rely any more either on the rich or on the powerful man. They have gathered experience of the rich taking advantage of them and the powerful man enslaving them: why should they trust them? Why rely on their meanness and their pride, on their wealth and armors? Their promises are empty, they are publicity always fake. The poor do not rely either on the rich's or the powerful man's promises. They know that only in God there is love for the weak and the poor, and therefore they rely on Him, they wait for the richness of His Word and the strength of His Spirit. The poor are hungry and cry, but they are still hoping for the Father's providence. Whoever is not steadfast in trusting Him becomes easy prey of quacks, exploiters, even maybe of magicians and fortune-tellers, who are promising health and comforts, but, in reality, they are bounding him to them, in order to make a slave of him. Whoever trusts the Lord is persecuted by men: they perceive him as different from them, because he is not attracted by their enticements: they envy his freedom and deep peace.

The poor that confide in God are able to believe in Jesus, to welcome Him and recognize Him as the Lord of their life, notwithstanding the fact that He has been rejected and crucified. They are the only true friends of God's, the only people which God can be pleased with and which me too I can trust. It does not matter if, because of their faith, they will be kept far from the places in which important things for society are decided, they will be discriminated and made fun of because at the center of their heart is the One who has been made fun of and discriminated.

Jesus then has words and serious warnings for whomever, confiding in richness and in what is pleasing to men, thinks of the life in this world as fun. Wealth and earthly well-being are not lasting forever. It would be wrong if men were jealous of us because of these ephemeral things.

The only true reality is the future one, the one that lasts forever. Jesus has risen in order for our eyes and our heart to be always focused on eternal goods. Jesus has risen - we are sure of this - so our hope would not go after ephemeral and limited things, and so in the end we would not be disappointed. Saint Paul is interested in the fact that we know how to draw true and solid consequences from our faith in Jesus' resurrection. The first consequence is to believe that we too will rise, and therefore we decide to live seriously, awaiting the Lord's judgment, obeying his word. We will trust him and we will not let us get attracted by the lies of whoever would like us to be only bound to earthly things, so they can control us like puppets. “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord"!