6th Sunday of the Year (C)

Liturgical readings

Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26

"Rejoice and exult, for your reward shall be great in heaven."

The gospel passage for this Sunday can greatly help in one's spiritual preparation for the coming Lenten Season. For the Lenten Season is a stark reminder of the realities of life today - how it is full of contrasts, both lack and fullness, in every part of the world. Jesus was sent into our human condition to show us the wisdom of living a life according to His Father's will, whether it be in lack or fullness. Thus, the gospel passage presents Him preaching a set of blessings and woes: blessings for the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the ostracized; and woes for the rich, the well-fed, those who are in celebration, and the honored. In contrast to Matthew's set of Beatitudes, Luke gives a strong contrast between those who will be blessed and on those who will experience a reversal of fortune (from good to bad).

If one reads the beginning of chapter 6 of Luke (Lk 1:1-5), you will find the Pharisees questioning Jesus about why His disciples are doing what is unlawful during the Sabbath (They were picking up ears of corn and eating them, Lk 1:1). And in Lk 6: 6-11, when Jesus heals a man with a paralyzed hand on a Sabbath (which is also unlawful), the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were enraged. It is within this context that Jesus preaches the four "blessings" and the four "woes". After this "blessings and woes", Jesus continues to preach about loving our enemies (Lk 6:27-35) and not to be hasty in judging others (Lk 6:36-38). This sixth chapter of Luke then ends with Jesus teaching about a good tree bearing good fruit and the wisdom of building a house solidly on His Word (Lk 6:46-49).

Many are aware that in their state of life at present and looking at the situation of others that there is pressure for social comparison: one may think oneself and members of his family either among those who are blessed, or among those whom Jesus pronounces His woes (which also applies with others). But experiences in life teaches that nobody really knows what will happen next. Everything is all in the hands of God. That is why God calls all to have faith in Him and to firmly decide everyday to respond in faith. A verse in one of the Bible's wisdom books counsels to "remember prosperity in the time of adversity" and to "remember adversity in the time of prosperity". As the Lord calls all to greater faith in Him, one realizes that the wisdom of His "blessings and woes" is a wisdom to hold onto. It is a valuable system of ethics in life that leads to what is more important: never to lose one's trust in God - whether in lack or fullness, in "blessing" or "woe". For faith, confidence and trust in God is an attitude that will help any believer continue to bear good fruit whether one is in "blessing" or "woe". And this degree of faith will make one "Rejoice and exult, for [your] reward shall be great in heaven."

Commemoration of Saints (February 15)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Agpae, virgin and martyr
• Walfrid, abbot
• Tanco or Tatto, bishop and martyr
• Sigfrid, bishop
• Claude La Colombiere, priest

St. Sigfrid (d. ca. 1045 A.D.) was consecrated as a missionary bishop and became the "apostle of Sweden". With two other bishops, Grimkel and John, he was sent by King Ethelred to Christianize the Swedes and the Norwegians. Sigfrid went to Sweden in 1008 A.D. and was able to baptize Olaf, the king of the Swedes. He also went to work as a missionary in Denmark. However, during a missionary trip to the more remote areas of Scandinavia, Sigfrid's three nephews (who were his main helpers in the mission) were murdered. On his return to King Ethelred, Sigfrid persuaded the king not to execute the killers. The king therefore commuted the punishment to a heavy fine. However, Sigfrid refused to accept the money even when he was in need of funds for rebuilding his cathedral.

There is uncertainty on his canonization. One source says he was canonized in 1158 A.D. by the only English pope, Adrian IV, who had been himself a missionary in Scandinavia. A second source has more clarity: his cult has been established in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark by the 13th century A.D. St. Sigfrid was widely venerated in Sweden before the Protestant Reformation entered the country.

St. Claude La Colombière (1641-1682 A.D.) was a Jesuit priest who has been canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1992 A.D.; he was previously beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929 A.D. He is particularly known as the spiritual director of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, who received revelations about the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Even before his ordination, Claude already displayed a remarkable talent for preaching. It was this talent that was instrumental for his appeal to the new and growing devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was a spiritual weapon against Jansenism, a French movement that incorporated elements of Calvinism and Lutheranism. During his retreat before making final profession as a Jesuit, Claude de la Colombière consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart.

Claude met Margaret Mary at his first priestly assignment when he paid a call to the Visitation convent at Burgundy, France. It was not long before he was reassigned to London, where Protestant England still had laws against Catholic priests. For preaching in the context of the Catholic faith, Claude was arrested for traitorous speech. While in prison, King Louis XIV requested that Claude be saved from execution. With his health already deteriorating, Claude was released from prison, and banished to France. Claude did not recover from his ailment and died on February 15, 1682 A.D. in his early 40s.

After his death, devotion to the Sacred Heart continued to grow, eventually leading to the inclusion of the feast of the Sacred Heart on the universal liturgical calendar in 1856 A.D. and celebrated on the Friday after Corpus Christi. Learn more at Jesuits.global

Related blog posts:

• Classic Consecration of the Family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Learn more

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 15]

• St. Onesimus, Apostle
• Paphnutius, Venerable-Hermit in Egypt and his daughter Euphrosyne

Commemoration of Saints (February 14)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Cyril, monk, and Methodius, bishop
• John Baptist of the Conception, priest
• Valentine, priest and martyr
• Abraham, bishop
• Maro, abbot
• Auxentius
• Conran, bishop
• Antonius of Sorrento, abbot
• Adolf, bishop

St. Cyril and St. Methodius, are known as the "apostles of the Slavs". Their principal missions were to territories encompassed by modern-day Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia. Cyril and Methodius are brothers, in a family of seven children in Thessalonica, with Cyril being the youngest.

Cyril began as a professor of philosophy while his brother Methodius entered a monastery in Bithynia after a brief government career. Both were commissioned by the Emperor Michael III ca. 862 A.D. to become missionaries in Moravia at the request of the local ruler. The local ruler, Rotislav, wanted the brothers to teach the Christian faith in the vernacular, as an alternative to the German missionaries who were already there. Both Cyril and Methodius spoke Slavonic since childhood. But to put Slavonic in written form, Cyril invented a Slavonic alphabet (Glagolithic, from which the term Cyrillic was derived) which was based on the Greek alphabet. From this Cyrillic alphabet, both Cyril and Methodius translated together major portions of the Bible and the liturgy.

For probably political reasons, the German bishops opposed Cyril and Methodius' missionary efforts and refused to ordain them and their followers. So the two brothers left Moravia and headed back to seek help in Constantinople. While enroute, they stopped at Venice, and attended to the invitation of Pope Nicholas I to visit Rome. However, it was the successor of Nicholas I, Hadrian II, who received the brothers with great honor because Cyril and Methodius were also carrying with them the relics of St. Clement.

Pope Hadrian II approved the Slavonic liturgy and ordained Methodius and three of their disciples as priests. The newly ordained celebrated the Slavonic liturgy at St. Peter's Basilica and in other Roman churches. By this time Cyril decided to become a monk. Afflicted with serious health problems, he died at 42 years of age on February 14, 869 A.D. Methodius, on the other hand, continued using the Slavonic liturgy and in 870 A.D. was consecrated to the episcopate. But the German bishops and the Hungarian clergy opposed him, had him removed from his see and exiled him to Swabia. The new pope, John VIII, recalled Methodius and restored him to his see in 873 A.D., with the order that he should not use the Slavonic liturgy. In 879 A.D., Methodius was called to Rome to answer charges of his not using the "Filioque" in the creed and for continuing to use Slavonic in the liturgy. When the charges proved without basis, Methodius went back to Moravia in 880 A.D. with his appointment to archbishop confirmed and with papal permission to use the Slavonic language in the liturgy restored. St. Methodius died on April 6, 885 A.D. in Velehrad in modern-day Czech Republic.

Related blog post:

• Sts. Cyril and Methodius and the Patron Saints of Europe, Learn more
• The Growth of Christianity in Europe, Learn more

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 14]

• Auxentius, Hegumen
• Cyril, Bishop of Catania