The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings this Sunday give us the blueprint for true and lasting happiness.  Jeremiah puts it poetically: If you seek happiness in pleasing God and in being faithful to the Lord, you will be like a tree planted close to a stream of water, a tree whose leaves never fade, a tree that bears much fruit season after season.  St. Luke’s version of the beatitudes gives us a winning formula for achieving happiness: be empty enough for God to fill you; be hungry for holiness instead of instant satisfaction; be hopeful in times of suffering.

This weekend, the Church is celebrating World Marriage Day, and we are holding up one pathway we can take to happiness, and that is a sacramental marriage.  So, as our married couples celebrate their vocation to seek happiness by loving and honoring each other for the rest of their lives, let’s all renew our commitment to seek our happiness in the Lord by following and serving Christ every day in whatever vocation is ours.  Receiving the Body of Christ in Holy Communion will surely help us find this lasting happiness!