Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Blessed are you..." (Lk. 6:17, 20-26)
On the Sixth Sunday (In Not So) Ordinary Time, the reading is from Luke 6:17, 20-26. Jesus came down the mountain from prayer with the Twelve, and people gathered to hear Him and be healed. And Jesus, raising his eyes toward his disciples, said: Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry…Blessed are you who are now weeping…Blessed are you when people hate you.
Reading Luke’s Gospel, I feel comforted and immersed in the Blessedness that keeps me afloat in the Victory that Jesus Christ is Lord! At the same time, we are coming out of the traumas of four years from the coronavirus and experiencing more hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters than we’ve seen before. In February 2025, we also are living in a time of immense governmental upheaval and racial oppression in our nation. We are living in a time of constant fear, doubt, anxiety, and grief from the loss of loved ones, and we may have minimal joy.
However, no matter what you (or we) are going through, we believe God’s got this! Amen! God is in control! Let us “Rejoice and be glad,” take a slow, deep breath (three times), and listen and pray with a video of Tramaine Hawkins singing “I Never Lost My Praise.”
During this Black History Month (and throughout the year), I remember these gone-to-glory signs of hope in my life:
Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman taught, wrote, preached, and integrated the gifts of African American traditions and spirituality in the forefront of the Church.
Civil rights activists Rosa Parks, Rev. Martin King, and the 13-month Montgomery Bus Boycott walkers and carpoolers in 1955, whose actions resulted in the unconstitutionality of segregated public transit.
Sr. Antona Ebo, a 1965 voter registration marcher from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, that continued to make ‘good trouble’ in the Church and community.
Jackie Wilson (one of my mentors and BFF sounding board) was the executive director of the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Black Catholics from 1979-2002 and co-founder of Sisters in the Spirit in the ADW in 2001.
Marguerite Thomas, my civil rights activist mother in Arlington, VA, initiated the enrollment of three of her elementary school children (including me) to desegregate the now Cathedral of St. Thomas More School in September 1954. Then, she developed her own Housing Counseling Service for the local Black community.
From 1967-1970, I worked in Cardinal O’Boyle’s Archdiocese of Washington’s Office for Church and Community Relations with director (and mentor) Msgr. Geno Baroni. After the 1968 assassination of Rev. King, Fr. Geno helped plan the Archdiocese’s participation, and we marched in the Poor People’s Campaign. After that, I worked for many years as administrative staff in ecumenical organizations in DC (including Alban Institute, Bread for the World, and the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation program). For 10 years, I was the DC/VA Evening Program Director for EPS/Education Parish Service at Trinity University (DC) before retiring in 2008.
All the above people, and many more, are blessed believers and signs of hope for future generations. Some of the personal inspirational women leaders in my life now include Therese Wilson Favors, Burma Hill, Charlene Howard, Dr. Valerie Lewis-Mosely, and the list goes on. All these women, and many more, are blessed believers and are signs of hope for generations to come. Who are your signs of hope?
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St. Paul tells us in Romans 5:1b-5, (NABRE), that through Jesus Christ: …we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.
“Pope Francis called for ‘signs of hope’ in the [2025] Jubilee Year, including the desire for peace in the world, openness to life and responsible parenthood, and closeness to prisoners, the poor, the sick, the young, the elderly, migrants and people ‘in difficult situations.’" (Reported by The Catholic Review, Archdiocese of Baltimore.)
I pray that we may stay immersed and charged up with “Blessed are you” and be signs of hope. Let us bless the Lord in thanksgiving and praise. “Praise Him!” Let’s close this reflection by singing with ValLimar Jansen, “The Lord is My Light”.
Author: Cecilia Thomas Braveboy is a spiritual director, retreat director, adult religious educator, and organizational developer in the Roman Catholic faith using the African American tradition and spirituality. In Our Lady Queen of Peace parish, Arlington, VA, she is a lector and a volunteer coordinator of Minkisi, an interracial ministry of contemplative prayer, action and African heritage. Cecilia has been a member and program leader in Sisters in the Spirit in the Archdiocese of Washington since 2002; and has been and a member of the Arlington Diocese’s Black Catholic Ministry-Multicultural Office since established in the 1980s.
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Blessings upon Blessings