6th Sunday in the Season of the Year (C) – Jer 17:5-8; ICor 15; Luke 6:17-26. St Valentine’s Day.
The question that lies at the heart of our readings today is – where do you place your ultimate trust / faith / hope? Jeremiah rather starkly tells us that if it is in the world of people and things than we are cursed. In a similar way, the ‘beatitudes’ as given by St Luke in the Sermon on the Plain are in series of blessings and curses which are much more stark and confronting than the equivalent in the Gospel of Matthew.
In Luke, Jesus tells us that those who are poor, hungry, weeping and persecuted are blessed. So what on earth is Jesus getting at in this sermon? How can it be a good thing to be poor or hungry? When is it good to weep or be persecuted?
Recorded at St Michael’s, 9.30am (12’33”)