The Lord says this:
“A curse on the man who puts his trust in man, who relies on things of flesh, whose heart turns from the Lord. He is like dry scrub in the wastelands; if good comes, he has no eyes for it, he settles in the parched places of the wilderness, a salt land, uninhabited.
“A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the Lord, with the Lord for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream; when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit.”
Psalm 1: 1-4, 6
Háppy indéed is the mánwho fóllows not the cóunsel of the wícked;
nor língers in the wáy of sínners
nor síts in the cómpany of scórners,
but whose délight is the láw of the Lórd
and who pónders his láw day and níght.
Hé is like a trée that is plánted
besíde the flówing wáters,
that yíelds its frúit in due séason
and whose léaves shall néver fáde;
and áll that he dóes shall prósper.
Not só are the wícked, not só!
For théy like wínnowed cháff
shall be dríven awáy by the wínd.
When the wícked are júdged they shall not stánd,
nor find róom among thóse who are júst;
for the Lórd guards the wáy of the júst
but the wáy of the wícked leads to dóom.
1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20
If Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.
But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.
Luke 6: 17, 20-26
Jesus came down with the Twelve and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases.Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he said:
“How happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God.
Happy you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied. Happy you who weep now: you shall laugh.
“Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
“But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now.
Alas for you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry. Alas for you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.
“Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.”
As we've seen in previous weeks, the second reading isn't really connected with the other readings, but consists of St. Paul arguing for the resurrection of the body.
The first reading and psalm are about who to put your trust in: other people, or God.
The gospel is from early on in Luke's gospel; Jesus has just called his disciples, performed a few miracles and has built up quite a crowd of followers. He now starts to teach them.
Who or what do you trust?
- your parents?
- science?
- your teachers?
- your group leaders for today?
- ...
- car drivers (that they'll stop at red lights)
- bus drivers (that they'll take us to where they say they will)
- dinner ladies (that the food is edible)
- gravity (we don't fly off into space)
- the future (there will be a tomorrow)
What do you think Jesus means by these pairs?
- 'poor' and 'rich'
- 'hungry' and 'full'
- 'those who weep' and 'you who laugh'
- those who are hated and abused, and those of whom the world speaks well
Why do you think Paul is telling us all this about resurrection?
What do you think of his argument? Does it help you to believe?
