God’s Blessings and Woes
“Curse is the one who trusts in men.”
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.”
Jeremiah 17:5-8
6th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C
We are familiar with the Matthew’s sermon on the mount where Jesus gave eight beatitudes to five thousand before feeding them from five loaves and two fish.
As an alternative today we hear a different version of Luke’s sermon on the plain. Jesus went down with the apostles to a level ground and instead gave four blessings and four curses.
We might be surprised to hear Jesus cursing. But that is what Jeremiah tells the people. “Thus says the Lord: Curse is the one who trusts in men. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.” By the way I heard that the Jews bless with the right hand and curses with the left.
Obviously whether God blesses or curses us does not depend on Him but rather on us. Whatever happens to us in life is only the consequence of the choices we make.
Listen well to the beatitudes. Why is man blessed? It is because he chose to trust God. Why is man cursed? It is because his choice was to believe men instead.
Looking deeper we see a reversal of fortunes at the end of life. When the world consider us unfortunate for believing in God, at the end it would be us who would be rewarded. And vice versa.
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