Crazy Love
February 14, 2010
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But now Christ has been raised from the dead…” – 1 Corinthians 15:20a
I don’t want to sound morbid but let me tell you two crazy stories of men who died. The first one is about a
husband and wife who were both mental patients. One day, the hospital supervisor came to tell the wife
some good news and some bad news. She would be discharged from the mental hospital for saving her
husband from drowning in the swimming pool, he said. The bad news is, the husband hanged himself. The
wife objected, “No, he did not do that. I hanged him to dry so he wouldn’t catch a cold!” Crazy affection!
The other is about a Father who sent His son to die for the people who offended and derided His son. Crazy,
you say. Yes, the Father is crazy in love. The Father sent His only Son out of love. And the Son, at His
crucifixion, said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
To men, this sounds crazy. But God is divine. And only He has the immensity of love to let His Son die for our
freedom. And the Son, also out of love, accepted death.
Let this brand of love be the reason we celebrate Valentines. Have a blessed heart’s day! Rolly España
(rolly@homeliving.com.ph)
REFLECTION:
You are crazy if you do not accept God’s offer of redemption that was bought at the cost of Jesus’ blood.
Thank You for Your cross and Your nail-pierced hands that made eternal life possible for me.
1st READING
The deceitful nature of the human heart is something we must look out for. The human heart is good, but
when it gets captured by sin, it can become a powerful and seductive enemy of the Christian life. Only the
truth of God can set it free. This is why we should do all that we can to form our hearts and mind in the ways
and truth of God. This is the best protection against the lies of Satan.
Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of
season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. 7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD. 8 He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the
stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
P S A L M
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6 (40:5a)
R: Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
1 Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the
company of the insolent, 2 but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. (R) 3
He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers. (R) 4 Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes. (R)
2nd READING
Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Christianity is merely a philosophy of life without any real
persuasive power. It would become merely another good idea amid the rest of the good ideas the world has
come up with over the millennia. But we know that Jesus rose from the dead and therefore Christianity is
different, It has a power behind it that no other religion has. It has a legitimacy that sets it apart from all other
faiths. It is the power of the resurrection given to us through faith and the Sacraments that gives Christians
the ability to overcome both sin and death.
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
12 Brothers and sisters: If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there
is no resurrection of the dead? 16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, 17 and if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those who have fallen asleep
in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
G O S P E L
The Lucan form of the Beatitudes focuses on the poor and the outcast, following the theme of his Gospel.
Does the Church today truly stand in solidarity with the poor? What does it mean to stand in solidarity with
the poor? How can I stand in solidarity with the poor? These are questions that each of us must ask
ourselves if we are going to create an environment where it is possible to live out the Beatitudes as Christ
expresses them here. We must make choices and we must make them “for the poor,” for those who need
our assistance. We must learn to give generously, not just from our excess but in order that we live in true
solidarity with all the people of God.
Luke 6:17, 20-26
17 Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his
disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and
Sidon . 20 And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the
kingdom of God is yours. 21 Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you
who are now weeping, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude
and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice and leap for joy on
that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same
way. 24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 But woe to you who are filled
now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. 26 Woe to you when all
speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”
on Account of the Son of Man
It’s Valentine’s Day today but since it’s Sunday, we have to focus on the Gospel passage the Church offers
us. If I would be able to see you, dear readers, all together before me, I would ask you two interesting
questions. The first is: “Who among you would like to be poor, hungry, weeping and hated by everybody?
Please raise your hands!” Would even one hand go up? The next question is: “A show of hands, please,
from all who want to be rich, well-fed, laughing and well-respected?” Again, I bet, all your hands would shoot
up, even though Jesus just pronounced a woe on all of you.
Jesus sometimes confuses us. Just think: Would any good parent want their children to be poor, hungry,
sad and hated? But Jesus calls these people blessed. Isn’t God a better parent than all human parents put
together? How then can He call blessed what we normally would call misfortunes?
You may find the key to a proper understanding in a few words which Jesus added to the last Beatitude: “on
account of the Son of Man.” What Jesus is saying is that those who accept these misfortunes as the price
they have to pay for following Him are the blessed ones. When Luke wrote these words down, some 50
years after Jesus had taught, the Christians had experienced already severe persecutions. All happened “on
account of the Son of Man.” Luke reminds them that Jesus called them blessed in their misfortunes; that
they can smile through their tearful eyes, for they have made the right choice.
But there were others who missed the blessedness Jesus had prepared for them. We don’t have any
persecution in our country. But materialism, spreading consumerism and sex under the disguise of love can
lure us from the promised blessedness. We better look out whether all we do is “on account of the Son of
Man.”Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD
Reflection Question:
When I have the choice between a better job or more money gained by dishonesty and a lesser job and
lesser money by honest means – what do I choose?
Lord, when I read Your Beatitudes and Woes I was confused. Do You promise a better life in the afterlife
only? Then Karl Marx would be right that religion would be opium for
us. But no. You just want us to choose You even when it causes disadvantages. Thank You for this insight.
St. Maro, pray for us.
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