This weekend’s Gospel presents to us Luke’s presentation of the beatitudes. In Luke, the sermon takes place not on a mountain side as in Matthew’s Gospel, but rather on level ground. So we have the Sermon on the Plane instead of the Sermon on the Mount.
But the differences go far deeper than simply the place in which Jesus gives his sermon on the beatitudes. In Luke, besides the blessings, there are “the woes to you who…” are rich, are full, laugh, whom all speak well of, “for their ancestors treated the false prophets this way.” It is a warning that good things are not coming their way even though things are going well for them right now.
So, in Luke’s Gospel Jesus names those who are blessed and those whom woe will come upon if they don’t change their lives. We normally focus on the blessings and not on the woes but the “woes” are there for a reason -- to warn us! To get us to reflect on our lives and how we are living with the poor and the hungry, how we are comforting the weeping and how we treat those ostracized on account of their discipleship of Jesus.
In Matthew’s account of the sermon of the beatitudes he says “blessed are the poor in spirit” while Luke writes of Jesus’ sermon as, “blessed are the poor”, a very different message. In Jesus’ socio-religious reality, his contemporaries believed the poor were poor because they had done something that angered God. And that the wealthy were rich because they had gained the favor of God, and were blessed by God.
In this Gospel, Jesus is preaching the exact opposite of this understanding of how God relates to human beings. Jesus is disconnecting poverty from sinfulness and curse. Luke’s Gospel is often referred to as the Gospel of the poor, or the Gospel of women, or the Gospel of the marginalized. It is so referred to because these are the categories of persons who are raised up in Luke’s Gospel, to a greater extent than in the other two synoptic gospels.
In both Matthew and in Luke, Jesus calls blessed all those who are hated, excluded, insulted or denounced on account of him. It is an important proclamation that Jesus utters, as in fact many of his disciples and the apostles will eventually be denounced, some imprisoned and others even martyred for their faith in Jesus.
Jesus promises them that in spite of what they suffer on account of their allegiance to him, they will not be abandoned by Jesus and that they are “the blessed ones”.
I think ultimately that the beatitudes and the woes we encounter in Luke’s Gospel challenge us and call us to holiness through reaching out to the poor and to all who are excluded and marginalized, to all who suffer in this world. And we are promised that to the extent that we reach out to the suffering, to the extent that we “do justice,” we will become more fully “the blessed of God” and find fulfillment and happiness in our lives through helping to build up the Reign of God!
As we take time this week to reflect on ramifications of this central Gospel message of Jesus Christ in light of all that is happening in our nation at this very moment, as we reflect on all of the lives that are being torn apart and forever changed by the new administration’s callous and unjust actions, let us focus on one or two of the beatitudes and ask ourselves: in what concrete ways might I live them out today? Who is grieving that I might comfort them, hungry that I might feed them, poor that I might reach out to them and offer a hand?
Am I willing to live out my discipleship by writing to and calling my local and national governmental officials to speak up on behalf of the millions of lives that are being put at risk by the cruel and thoughtless actions of those relatively few individuals who clearly care nothing for the future of our country nor the needs of its people? Will I call for Congress to stand up and protect the poor and the marginalized, and to defend our civil rights, and to safeguard our institutions and the federal financial safety nets that keep our vulnerable sisters and brothers from utter ruin? Let us live the beatitudes!
Our discipleship of Jesus Christ calls us to act now!
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
But the differences go far deeper than simply the place in which Jesus gives his sermon on the beatitudes. In Luke, besides the blessings, there are “the woes to you who…” are rich, are full, laugh, whom all speak well of, “for their ancestors treated the false prophets this way.” It is a warning that good things are not coming their way even though things are going well for them right now.
So, in Luke’s Gospel Jesus names those who are blessed and those whom woe will come upon if they don’t change their lives. We normally focus on the blessings and not on the woes but the “woes” are there for a reason -- to warn us! To get us to reflect on our lives and how we are living with the poor and the hungry, how we are comforting the weeping and how we treat those ostracized on account of their discipleship of Jesus.
In Matthew’s account of the sermon of the beatitudes he says “blessed are the poor in spirit” while Luke writes of Jesus’ sermon as, “blessed are the poor”, a very different message. In Jesus’ socio-religious reality, his contemporaries believed the poor were poor because they had done something that angered God. And that the wealthy were rich because they had gained the favor of God, and were blessed by God.
In this Gospel, Jesus is preaching the exact opposite of this understanding of how God relates to human beings. Jesus is disconnecting poverty from sinfulness and curse. Luke’s Gospel is often referred to as the Gospel of the poor, or the Gospel of women, or the Gospel of the marginalized. It is so referred to because these are the categories of persons who are raised up in Luke’s Gospel, to a greater extent than in the other two synoptic gospels.
In both Matthew and in Luke, Jesus calls blessed all those who are hated, excluded, insulted or denounced on account of him. It is an important proclamation that Jesus utters, as in fact many of his disciples and the apostles will eventually be denounced, some imprisoned and others even martyred for their faith in Jesus.
Jesus promises them that in spite of what they suffer on account of their allegiance to him, they will not be abandoned by Jesus and that they are “the blessed ones”.
I think ultimately that the beatitudes and the woes we encounter in Luke’s Gospel challenge us and call us to holiness through reaching out to the poor and to all who are excluded and marginalized, to all who suffer in this world. And we are promised that to the extent that we reach out to the suffering, to the extent that we “do justice,” we will become more fully “the blessed of God” and find fulfillment and happiness in our lives through helping to build up the Reign of God!
As we take time this week to reflect on ramifications of this central Gospel message of Jesus Christ in light of all that is happening in our nation at this very moment, as we reflect on all of the lives that are being torn apart and forever changed by the new administration’s callous and unjust actions, let us focus on one or two of the beatitudes and ask ourselves: in what concrete ways might I live them out today? Who is grieving that I might comfort them, hungry that I might feed them, poor that I might reach out to them and offer a hand?
Am I willing to live out my discipleship by writing to and calling my local and national governmental officials to speak up on behalf of the millions of lives that are being put at risk by the cruel and thoughtless actions of those relatively few individuals who clearly care nothing for the future of our country nor the needs of its people? Will I call for Congress to stand up and protect the poor and the marginalized, and to defend our civil rights, and to safeguard our institutions and the federal financial safety nets that keep our vulnerable sisters and brothers from utter ruin? Let us live the beatitudes!
Our discipleship of Jesus Christ calls us to act now!
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
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