SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Sunday - February 17, 2019

Sunday - February 17, 2019

To obtain the protection of our Blessed Lady in our most urgent wants, it is very useful to say sixty-three times, after the fashion of a Rosary, "Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me."

~~St. Philip Neri

 

February 17 2019

 

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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 78

Reading 1JER 17:5-8

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.

Responsorial Psalm PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6

R. (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked,
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Reading 21 COR 15:12, 16-20

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

AlleluiaLK 6:23AB

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad;
your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 6:17, 20-26

Jesus came down with the twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false
prophets in this way.”

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Jesus Sides with The Downtrodden

Jesus makes it clear that he sides with the downtrodden in this Sunday's Gospel reading: the poor (this could be spiritually or materially), the hungry (again, spiritually or physically; the Lord cares about all who feel empty), the weeping, the hated, the excluded, the insulted, and those who are denounced on account of their faith in him.

Whenever we contribute to someone's miseries, we are setting ourselves up against God. Bad-mouthing people, even when the complaint is justified, is working against Jesus instead of with him.

So is telling demeaning jokes, filing lawsuits that exceed fair justice, or failing to help anyone who comes to our attention and is in need of what we could share.

So is deliberately intimidating an employee or spouse, or being consistently late and causing others to be inconvenienced by the delay, or demanding too much from others, or demanding so much of ourselves that we have no energy or time for the Lord and for the people around us.

Whenever we contribute to the miseries of others, we work against Christ.

What happens to those who continually and unrepentantly set themselves against the Lord? Oh woe! Blessed are those whose hope is in the Lord (as this Sunday's first reading and responsorial Psalm remind us), but woe inevitably comes upon those whose only hope is human frailty.

The wealthy cannot take their possessions to heaven nor can they buy their way into heaven. Meanwhile, the Lord sides with those who suffer because this wealth had not been shared with them.

Similarly, those who laugh at the ones who cry will not laugh long, for joy at the expense of another is only temporary and never truly satisfying.

The favored and famous who currently receive accolades will be criticized the moment their backs are turned.

The downtrodden are uplifted by Jesus, but those who lift themselves up don't have enough strength to carry their burdens very well -- they are miserable even while they smile.

Today's Prayer

Beloved Jesus, may Your work in our lives make us obedient witnesses of Your love for mankind. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”