6th Sunday Ordinary

February 16, 2014:  6th Sunday, Ordinary Time

Readings

• Sir 15:15-20  Keeping the commandments will save you.  Before you are life and death, good and evil; you'll receive what you choose.  God is wise, mighty, and all-seeing.

• Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34  "Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!"  Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law.

• 1 Cor 2:6-10  We speak God’s wisdom, mysterious and hidden.  What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the heart, God has prepared for those who love him and revealed through the Spirit.

• Mt 5:17-37  I've come not to abolish but to fulfill the law and prophets.  Whoever breaks a commandment will be called least, but whoever obeys and teaches them will be called great.  You've heard, Don't kill, but I say, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable.  If he has something against you, be reconciled.  You've heard, Don't commit adultery, but I say, if you look with lust, you've already committed it.  If your eye or hand causes you to sin, tear it out; better to lose it than your whole body....  You've heard, Don't take a false oath, but I say don't swear at all; let ‘Yes’ mean Yes and ‘No’ No.

Pope Francis

• Angelus:  To bring the Mosaic Law to fulfillment requires higher justice, more authentic observance.  Jesus goes to the root, focusing on intention, on the heart.  Be open to the Holy Spirit to receive and express God's hidden wisdom and live God's love.  The precepts come together in the greatest commandments:  love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

• Gospel Joy (Evangelii Gaudium drill-down), continuing Chapter 5 (a series):

Mary, mother of evangelization:  With the Spirit, Mary is always present in the midst of the people.  She joined the disciples in praying for the Spirit's coming and so made possible Pentecost's missionary outburst.  She is Mother of the evangelizing Church; without her we couldn't understand the new evangelization.  (5.II, 284, p. 211)

Reflections

• Creighton:  God does not call anyone to misery or suffering, but if it occurs, I'm called to comfort and show mercy.  Keep the law; live the beatitudes.

• One Bread One Body:  Come and yield to Jesus; we can't meet his demands on our own.

• Passionist:   Jesus is the new Moses; he interprets the old covenant with divine wisdom and so perfects it.  Do I fulfill the law and the prophets in my life by speaking and living God's wisdom?

• Sacred Space

Music

• Be thou my vision:  traditional/Slane, John Rutter setting ("Be thou my wisdom" verse for 1st and 2nd readings)

• Eye has not seen/ Haugen (2nd reading)

• Choose life/ Big Tent Revival (1st-reading-inspired but really from Dt 30:19)

Apparel

• Owl tie pin:  God's wisdom (1st reading, 2nd reading)

• Eyeball tie pin:  God is all-seeing (1st reading); "open my eyes" (psalm); "if your eye causes you to sin"  (gospel)

• "Hands" tie:  if your hand causes you to sin... (gospel)

• Suspenders with "love" sticker:  love is the fulfillment of the Law (Angelus; Rom 13:10, Gal 5:14)

• Green shirt:  Ordinary Time (season)

Dress your life!

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