February 16, 2025
Revised Common Lectionary
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
Luke 6:17-26
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6 (40:5a)
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26
Another Word and Song reflection for this Sunday may be found here.
Most of our daily choices don’t seem like a matter of life and death. But today’s Scriptures remind us that the choice to follow Jesus is a profound one—between the ways of blessing and curse.
Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Plain are startling. He declares that the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the reviled are blessed, while those who are rich, full, laughing, and admired should beware. There is no middle ground, no loophole. His teaching unsettles the values of his time—and of ours.
The message of today’s Gospel can sting because it seems to provide no escape—poor or rich, hungry or filled, weeping or laughing, reviled or spoken well of. Jesus’ teaching directly challenges societies based on consumerism, nationalism, exceptionalism, militarism, and economic power. His call to discipleship isn’t about comfort or success—it’s about radical trust in God and solidarity with those in need.
The blessings and woes of the Sermon on the Plain are consistent with Luke’s understanding of discipleship. Following Jesus requires us to hold nothing back, to give all that we have in the service of God’s reign. That kind of renunciation is seen in the poor who have nothing, the hungry who cannot provide sustenance for themselves, the weeping who have experienced loss, and the persecuted who have no one to defend them.
How can Christians today respond faithfully to this teaching? Is Jesus telling us to give up our homes and our livelihoods? We know that Jesus himself relied on the generosity of wealthy friends to support his ministry and to provide for his material needs. Like them, we are called upon to place ourselves and our resources at the service of God’s reign.
At the same time, Jesus lifts up the poor and marginalized as models of radical discipleship. To follow Christ is to loosen our grip on anything that competes with our hunger for God’s reign. That kind of trust is at the heart of the prayer Jesus taught us: “May your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread” (Lk 11:2-3).
A Hymn for Today: “Happy is the one”
Jews and Christians alike make generous use of the Psalms in their worship, because they are such profound expressions of praise, lament, and prayer. Curiously, the entire collection begins with a psalm that includes none of those expressions. Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm that celebrates the blessedness of those whose “delight is in the law of the Lord” (Ps 1:2) and walk in the way of God’s covenant. This paraphrase comes from the Iona Community in Scotland. Listen to a recording of the first stanza here.
Happy is the one
who does not take bad advice for a guide,
nor walks the path on which sinners have trod,
nor sits where the cynics mock.
Happy is the one
who takes delight in the law of the Lord,
and meditates on it both day and night,
and prospers in every way.
Such a one as this
is like a tree by the nourishing streams,
which yields its fruit when the season is right
and bears leaves that never fade.
Not so the wicked’s fate;
for they, like chaff which the wind blows away,
will never stand and be confident
on God’s great judgment day.
Nor will sinners walk
among the assembly of God’s own folk;
for wicked ways are all doomed by the Lord
who blesses the honest path.
Text: The Iona Community, © 1993 Wild Goose Resource Group; GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive North American agent. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857
Tune: BENEDICTUS PRIMUS (The Iona Community)
Image Credit: Poverty and Wealth, freestanding sculpture
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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