February 15 |
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Sixth Sunday of the year Lk 6:/17, 20-26, |
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| Background: In Mt the sermon is on a mountain and there are eight beatitudes. In Lk the sermon occurs after Jesus comes down from the mountain ("the sermon in the plain") and there are four blessings and four "woes." The material is similar so both writers are relying on a common source or on similar sources. Either the writers edit it differently or different versions have been passed on in the tradition. The theme in Lk's version seems to be that Jesus will take care of his own, no matter what might happen to them. We are not promised an easy life or an untroubled life. Rather we are warned that easy lives are dangerous. But we are promised that God's love will not turn away from us. |
read the padre |
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Story: Once upon a time there was a man who was very angry at God. On one bitter cold winter the pipes in his house froze, the motor block on his car cracked, the tv antenna fell off his roof, a tree tumbled on his garage, everyone in his family was sick all winter long. One kid would bring home a bug, it would spread to the other kids, then to his and to him. Everyone was miserable and ornery. His snow plow broke, he wrenched his back shoveling snow by hand. The dog ran away and they searched all day Saturday for him and couldn't find him and everyone's cold got worse. The dog of course came back and mean and ornery because he was so cold. Then our hero was marooned for three days in the fog at O'Hare International. So he complained to God. Why are you doing all these terrible things to me. I'm a nice fellow. I lead a good life. I don't deserve all this stuff. So St. Brigid who was also in the airport (she's often there, you know, disguised as a passenger agent) came over to him and said, hey, you got a nice home and you can afford a new car and your garage and antenna are insured and you have a wonderful wife and great kids even if they're sick all the time. And you have medicine for them when they're sick and the dog did come home and you have three days of peace here and you could pray and thank God for all his blessings instead of complaining, right? You might even learn to smile and laugh a little at how silly you sound. |
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