Sixth Sunday of ordinary time: Today’s readings: Jeremiah 17,5-8; 1 Corinthians 15,12.16-20; Luke 6,17.20-26
A short clip about an Italian mountaineer was recently doing the rounds. The poor man, having slipped down the mountainside, found himself holding on to a piece of rock, while his feet dangled loosely above what seemed to be a frightening drop. He frantically called out for help: “C’è qualcuno?” (Is anyone there?).
After doing so at the top of his voice a few times, a deep voice was heard by which the speaker identified himself as none other than God. Then followed his challenging invitation to the mountaineer to let go of the rock and fall into God’s protective hands. The man, more worried than before, tried to turn his head around and asked in a panic: “C’è qualcun’altro?” (Is there anyone else?)
Jeremiah did not mince his words when he reported God’s message: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord… But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” (Jer 17,5.7). The gravitas that our trust carries varies depending on the object of our trust.
Being certain that a newspaper is reporting the truth is important, as one’s knowledge of facts may depend on it, but putting all your eggs in one basket when it comes to beliefs of ultimate meaning and the very eternal destiny of your life is certainly a matter of much greater concern. If only we could trust God so blindly as do many passionate supporters campaigning for the political candidate of their choice!
If only we could trust God so blindly as do many passionate supporters campaigning for the political candidate of their choice!
In the run-up to the general elections, the vast majority will use their vote to express their views concerning politicians whose decisions have the power to impact the electorate’s life to some degree or other. We know the narrative like the back of our hand.
People will be promoting candidates for all sorts of reasons, some less noble than others. All too often, the dust rising from the political arena as the combatants engage each other blurs the vision of too many of the participants. Indeed, some politicians end up being hailed as demi-gods whose victory alone will ensure lasting peace, security and prosperity to the nation and especially to their devoted supporters.
The object of such perilous trust may not necessarily be other individuals, those whom Jeremiah calls “mere flesh” in order to signify their weak and transitory nature. A more serious scenario is when people are confident of their own righteousness. This too is trust placed in mere flesh, for no matter how uprightly we may seek to live our life, the truth is that we are always in need of Christ’s mercy to touch us, heal us, and to loosen us from our sin, which is essentially the affirmation of one’s sovereignty over and against God’s.
Turning to God for healing, forgiveness and grace revolves around two fundamental notions, namely God’s power to bring about radical change and his faithfulness towards those who live according to his Word. If one of these is missing, God would not be utterly dependable.
If he has the power to bring things under his control but does not care about us, we could never hope to be saved. Conversely, if he is faithful to his followers but lacks the power to overcome evil, all we could do is congratulate him for his good intentions. By faith, we are convinced that Christ truly rose from the dead.
The Beatitudes we hear in today’s Gospel make sense only because they were spoken by someone who, by his resurrection, has given us the guarantee that his statements about our life beyond the grave can be taken seriously. It is only by trusting the Risen Lord fully that we will be playing all our cards right.