Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 6:17; 20-26
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. IN OUR COUNTRY WE HARDLY REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A SAINT VALENTINE ONCE. VALENTINE'S DAY FOR US CELEBRATES ROMANCE. IF YOU GO TO A SUPERMARKET AND GET STUCK IN A LINE WHERE THEY ARE TRAINING A NEW CASHIER, YOU CAN SEE ALL KINDS OF MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS DETAILING THE LATEST ANTICS OF JEN OR BRANGELINA OR LINDSEY OR BRITTANY, OR WHICHEVER POP STAR HAS DONE SOMETHING EVEN MORE OUTRAGEOUS THAN LAST WEEK, USUALLY HAVING TO DO WITH HOOKING UP OR BREAKING UP OR HAVING A BABY OUT OF WEDLOCK WITH SOMEBODY WHO IS MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE. AND IF WE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WE MEAN BY ROMANCE, THAT WOULD NOT BE IT. AND I THINK THE REASON WE INSTINCTIVELY RECOGNIZE THIS IS BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO US THAT ALL THESE POOR SOULS ARE MOTIVATED BY SELFISHNESS. THAT MAY NOT BE TRUE, BUT IT SURE IS REPRESENTED THAT WAY.
ROMANCE BETWEEN A WOMAN AND A MAN SEEMS TO NEED A COMPONENT OF UNSELFISHNESS, OF SELF-GIVING, WHICH IS SYMBOLIZED BY ROSES, A BOX OF CANDY, A VALENTINE CARD. AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH ROMANCE KNOW THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP GROWS WHEN WE ARE SELF-GIVING AND SHRINKS WHEN WE ARE SELFISH.
ONE THING ABOUT CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY, CERTAINLY SHARED BY SOME OTHER BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY, BUT NOT ALL, IS THE IDEA THAT GOD'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PEOPLE IS LIKE A ROMANCE. THE FATHER EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT IN JESUS CHRIST, WHO IN TURN GIVES HIMSELF UP FOR US. THIS LOVING ACTION, THIS SELF-GIVING, IS NOT WITHOUT PURPOSE; IT IS DONE PRECISELY SO THAT GOD CAN TAKE US BACK TO HIMSELF, SO THAT WE CAN DWELL WITH HIM FOREVER. BUT IN A ROMANCE, THERE MUST BE MUTUAL SELF-GIVING. AND THAT IS WHERE TODAY'S GOSPEL COMES IN.
YOU REMEMBER THE BEATITUDES IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE, AND SO ON. VERY SPIRITUAL. BUT LUKE'S BEATITUDES ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD; BLESSED ARE THE POOR, BLESSED ARE THE HUNGRY, BLESSED ARE YOU WHO WEEP. AND LUKE'S BLESSEDS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY WOES, WOES TO THOSE WHO ARE FILLED UP, WOES TO THOSE WHO LAUGH, WOES TO THE RICH.
THIS GOSPEL REMINDS US THAT IF WE ARE TO ENTER INTO THAT ROMANCE OF ALL ROMANCES WITH OUR GOD, WE TOO NEED TO EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, WE NEED TO MAKE ROOM FOR GOD TO ACT IN US.
LENT IS A GREAT TIME TO WORK ON THE PROJECT OF EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT. WE IN LONGMEADOW CERTAINLY CAN'T BE CALLED POOR, NOT JUST COMPARED TO THOSE IN HAITI, BUT EVEN THOSE IN SPRINGFIELD OR CHICOPEE. WE ARE RICH, LETS FACE IT. BUT WE CAN LET GO OF OUR ATTACHMENTS; WE CAN INCREASE OUR GIVING TO CHARITY; WE CAN FORGO ANOTHER SET OF NEW CLOTHES OR SHOES; WE CAN LET GO OF THINGS IN OUR ATTICS OR BASEMENTS WHICH WE HAVE BEEN SAVING FOR NO REASON, AND ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE USE OF THEM.
AND WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT HUNGRY. BUT WE CAN FAST. THE FAST THAT THE CHURCH USED TO ASK OF HER CHILDREN WAS TO EAT ONE FULL MEAL A DAY, AND TWO OTHER MEALS WHICH TOGETHER DID NOT EQUAL THE FULL MEAL. NOW SHE ONLY SAYS TO FAST ON ASH WEDNESDAY AND GOOD FRIDAY. BUT ITS A WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL EXERCISE TO FAST, TO FORGO THAT DAILY COCKTAIL, TO SKIP LUNCH ONE DAY A WEEK; OR WE CAN FAST BY CUTTING OUT SOMETHING WE REALLY LIKE TO EAT FROM OUR DIET, FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKS. SOME OF US, MYSELF INCLUDED, COULD EVEN FAST ENOUGH TO LOSE A FEW POUNDS. AND YOU CAN FAST FOR SPIRITUAL REASONS AND FOR HEALTH REASONS; THEY DON'T EXCLUDE EACH OTHER.
WE CAN WEEP. WE HUMANS ARE DESIGNED TO SEEK PLEASURE. IT'S NOT PLEASANT TO CONFRONT THINGS THAT BREAK OUR HEARTS. BUT ONCE IN A WHILE, WE SHOULD LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND SEE WHETHER WE ARE LIVING LIVES THAT PLEASE GOD. AND WHERE WE AREN'T, WHERE OUR SELFISHNESS AND BAD HABITS ARE KEEPING US FROM THAT KIND OF LIFE, THAT SHOULD MOVE US EMOTIONALLY. BECAUSE IF WE AREN'T PLEASING THE ONE WHO LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE DIED FOR US, AND IT DOESN'T MAKE US SAD, THEN SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
AND LASTLY, MAYBE WE SHOULD ASK WHY WE ARE NOT HATED? JESUS PROMISED THAT HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE HATED, WOULD BE PERSECUTED, WOULD EVEN BE PUT TO DEATH. NOT JUST IN THIS READING DID HE PROMISE THIS, BUT ALL THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES. AND WE KNOW WHAT WE COULD DO TO BE HATED – WE COULD STAND UP FOR WHAT WE SAY WE BELIEVE. WE HAVE ALL KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES. WE CAN BE MORE VOCAL ABOUT BEING PRO-LIFE, PRO-MARRIAGE, PRO-FAITH, PRO-JUSTICE, WHEN WE GET IN CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS. WE CAN SPEND MORE TIME LEARNING WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES SO THAT WE CAN BE BETTER PROPHETS IN THE WORLD. WE CAN DO OUR PART TO MAKE THE WORLD MORE LIKE THE KINGDOM OF GOD, PROVIDED WE KNOW WHAT THAT KINGDOM LOOKS LIKE. AND IF WE DO THESE THINGS, SOMEONE WILL PERSECUTE US, SOMEONE WILL HATE US. AND THAT WILL BE GOOD.
AND WOE TO US IF WE KEEP ON GOING THE WAY WE ARE GOING, IF WE ARE RICH, IF WE ARE FULL, IF WE LAUGH, IF WE ARE SPOKEN WELL OF. BECAUSE THEN THERE WILL BE NO ROMANCE; THERE WILL BE NO EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT SO THAT GOD CAN FILL US UP. AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO MAKE NO EFFORT, JESUS CHRIST WILL HAVE GIVEN HIMSELF UP TO SUFFERING AND DEATH FOR NO PURPOSE.
START ON THIS ASH WEDNESDAY. DO SOMETHING TO MAKE LENT DIFFERENT THIS YEAR; FIND SOME WAY TO FAST; AND PERSEVERE UNTIL EASTER SUNDAY. AND IF YOU DO, THAT WILL BE THE DAY YOU CAN LEAP FOR JOY, FOR YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A PLACE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO THAT INCOMPARABLE ROMANCE TO WHICH EACH OF US ARE INVITED, THE ROMANCE WHERE THE MORE WE GIVE OURSELVES UP, THE MORE WE EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, THE MORE GOD, WHO HAS ALREADY GIVEN ALL THAT HE CAN GIVE, CAN ENTER INTO US AND BRING US ETERNAL JOY.