“Blessed are You” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Blessed are You” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.  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. 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. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 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. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way." (Luke 6:20-26)

Piety

Suscipe

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

My memory, my understanding and my entire will

-  all that I have and call my own.

You have given it all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours, do with it as you will.

Give me only your love and your grace.

That is enough for me.

Study

In today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel, we have the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, similar to Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, yet noticeably different at the same time. Matthew records eight Beatitudes, while Luke only has four.  In Matthew’s narrative, Jesus addresses the crowd. Here, in Luke’s Gospel, he speaks directly to the people he has chosen to form his inner circle. Luke doesn’t talk about the spirit of the Kingdom (e.g., the poor in spirit). He talks about people who are literally poor, who have little or nothing to call their own. Jesus calls the poor, the hungry, the grief-stricken and the despised of the world blessed in Luke’s version of the sermon.

When we reflect on the Beatitudes, we want to be among those whom Jesus calls blessed. It’s easier to achieve that with Matthew’s version. We could strive for being poor in spirit, for example. But being plain, downright poor is in no way pleasant and not a state many would aspire to.

The poor referred to in Luke’s Beatitudes are from the lowest echelons of society.¹ They are like the untouchables of their time. They are the people no one notices. They don’t have family who can help them. Some are disabled. Many survive by begging. Some turn to prostitution to get by. Others turn to a life of crime. I don’t believe Jesus is extolling the virtues of this kind of grinding poverty when he says the poor are blessed. I don’t think Jesus wants that for any of us. But what he is saying is that if we find ourselves living that kind of existence, take heart, because we are precious and much loved in God’s eyes. Don’t ever think God has forgotten about us.

We will all at some point find ourselves in circumstances not of our choosing and not particularly to our liking. Someone we love dies, and suddenly we find ourselves in the company of a host of weeping souls. We suffer a job loss and find the specter of homelessness and hunger looming over us. We might have family, friends or co-workers who ridicule us for our faith. In other parts of the world, we might be killed for being a Christian. Do not despair; God holds us close to God’s heart.

The woes really don’t need to frighten us unless being wealthy, living the “good life,” or having power, popularity and prestige in this world are ends in and of themselves.  If that’s all we care about, then it’s true that we’ve had our reward in this life. Better to share from our abundance with those who are barely surviving and know that God is smiling at us and calling us blessed for our generosity.    

Action

Praying with the Beatitudes is difficult because we come face-to-face with ourselves and what kind of people we are at heart. God already knows the disposition of our hearts, but it’s a chance for us to reflect on Jesus’ words and to redirect our lives if need be. Take a few minutes today to reread what Luke writes in his Gospel and reflect on how God sees us.

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¹ "Who is Poor in the New Testament?", Jerome H. Neyrey, University of Notre Dame (retired)