Sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time- If–then–else: "Blessed Are You"

In computer programing languages there is a standard code that states: If–then (–else) which means:

“IF” YOU DO THIS “THEN” THIS WILL FOLLOW OR ELSE THIS HAPPENS.

It works the same way for some of the conditional blessings that God wants to give us that we hear in our Gospel today:

IF you do being “poor,… hungry,… people hating you, excluding you, insulting you for your faith in Jesus;

THEN:

You will forget yourself in prayer, turning your desire more fully toward God.

You won’t dwell on your wretchedness but want God and nothing but him.

You will become more silent toward yourself

You won’t fear a deeper loneliness in your soul because this impoverishment will not only be welcomed but even become attractive because God is recognized in a new manner, gentle in his touch, incapable of crushing a bruised reed.

You will have more of an absolute dependency on God.

OR ELSE THIS HAPPENS.

Woe.

To you who are rich for yourself, or seeking worldly applause for worldly things.

The recurring mistake for the Israelite was to assume that shalom was his irrespective of his behavior.

Shalom is not an indiscriminate gift of Yahweh. It is conditional.

Deuteronomy 29:19 says, “When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, ‘I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,’ they will bring disaster

on the watered land as well as the dry.”

Conversely, when righteousness is present, shalom will follow.

This week: In a difficult moment, IF you are silent to yourself and depend on God THEN you will be released from it by another hand: God’s.

Or ELSE, you won’t experience some of the conditional blessings that God might be giving you.

Amen.