- 1st Reading – Jeremiah 17:5-8
- 2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
- Gospel – Luke 6:17, 20-26
In today’s Gospel we hear the lesser-known account of the Beatitudes. The version more usually quoted and what we’re more familiar with is from the Gospel of Matthew, which gives us eight examples of those who are blessed. In the version we just heard from Luke’s Gospel we hear of only four examples followed by four opposites, or “Woes”.
The Beatitudes are often regarded as the very heart of Jesus’ teachings. This is where he sets out the most radical part of his preaching. He presents to his disciples a vision of the world turned upside down. He presents his values as being the direct opposite of the values of this world.
The world today tells us that to be happy we need a lot of money, that we need a big house and a lot of possessions; many of which are sinful. We could say that the world today is addicted to greed and sin. People are tricked into thinking that money and possessions will bring them happiness. And it may for a short time, but that happiness is fleeting. It never lasts.
In today’s world who would ever think that the poor would be blessed; that the hungry would be blessed, that those who weep would be blessed, or that those who are persecuted would be blessed? We have to read scripture very carefully, however. Jesus did not say that poverty, or hunger, or sadness, or hatred is a blessing. Instead, Jesus said that people are blessed when they are poor, hungry, weeping or hated. It’s a very minor difference in wording, but a very large difference in meaning. Blessings are the graces and the gifts that we receive from God. Poverty, hunger, sadness and hatred are not gifts from God. These are the ills of society; conditions of need and dependence that make us rely on God. When we rely on God then we are who we were meant to be, humans in a relationship with God. So, the poverty, the hunger, the sadness, the hatred, —— or whatever other cross we are called to carry in this world——maybe a physical handicap, or an illness, whatever our cross is, —– it’s there for a purpose——-to bring us closer to God.
The trials and tribulations that we encounter in our lives give us a choice of two paths to follow. Many take the path that leads to self-pity, and to blame God for their misfortunes, leading them further away from God. While others take the path that makes them realize their total dependence on God, which leads them to prayer and a closer relationship with God.
In that sense we are blessed to have our individual crosses to bear, and what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel becomes obviously clear and true:
Blessed are you who are poor.
Blessed are you who are hungry.
Blessed are you who are sad.
Blessed are you when people hate you.
If we look at the Church throughout history, the Church has thrived under persecution. Take that persecution away and the Church, in that that particular time and place, looses some of its vibrancy.
Of course, Jesus does not mean that in itself it’s good to be poor, hungry, hated, etc. These are all social problems that we strive to overcome. Nor is it contrary to God’s will to be rich, or to have plenty of food, etc. There are many saints through the history of the Church who were wealthy, but their wealth did not prevent them from answering God’s call. They realized where their fortunes came from and used them accordingly. It takes a high level of maturity to live with the worldly blessings, or the riches that God gives us.
The more blessings that we receive from God, the easier it is to forget where those gifts come from. If we lose ourselves in the blessings and the riches of this world, we go down the path leading away from God. Our blessings turn out to be like the proverbial millstone around the neck and become the cause of our eternal death. So, what looks to be like a blessing in the eyes of this world can turn out to be one of the woes that Christ warns about in today’s Gospel:
It all depends on keeping our focus on God and putting our trust in God. In our 1st reading Jeremiah tells us, “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”; and goes on to say, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord.” Jeremiah was the one true prophet who lived through the events leading up to the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites. Their king at that time, King Zedekiah, wanted to compromise the power of the Babylonians through military treaties. But Jeremiah warned the king that man could not solve his own problems, that they needed to trust in God. That’s a message that is still ever-important today. Jeremiah counseled the king that he and the people should renew their commitment to Yahweh. That was the way of the great leaders before them, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, who trusted in God to protect them. But King Zedekiah put his trust in himself and in foreign alliances, an outright rejection of God, because these alliances meant that the people of Judah would have to recognize the gods of their pagan allies and embrace practices of idolatry. It wasn’t long after that when the king and most of the Israelites were taken into slavery.
There have been many other people through history that were determined to correct the ills of society, even some well-meaning people, who thought they could make the world a better place by trusting completely in man’s own capabilities. This rarely works, and when it does it’s usually not very long-lasting.
In more recent world history, it was exactly one hundred years ago that the Treaty of Versailles was signed after the end of World War I. It was a treaty that was said to guarantee that the “Great War” would be the war to end all wars. But the Pope at that time, Pope Benedict XV, said that the treaty would not work, and that peace would not last because there was no mention anywhere in the treaty about trusting in God; or any mention of spiritual values at all. As we know the Pope was right and peace didn’t last. Twenty years later the world was in an even bigger war, World War II.
In the last fifty years, the United States has slowly separated itself from God more and more; taking away prayer in schools, removing any public display or mention of God, idolizing wealth and power, while in the name of freedom murdering millions of unborn children, and euthanizing what they call the less desirables of society.
Ultimate reliance only on human capabilities does not work. It didn’t work in Jeremiah’s time. It didn’t work after WW I. And it still isn’t working today. One lesson we need to learn from history is that our only true hope must be in God. Many people are tempted to trust in their own power and possessions. They think they are self-reliant and have no need of God; but if our consolation lies in ourselves and our possessions then we will have nothing to take with us when we attempt to enter the Kingdom of God.
Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the hungry. Blessed are the weeping. And blessed are the persecuted; for they have little elsewhere to turn than to God.