Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Our Gospel today is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5), sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain. In contrast to Matthew, Luke includes Jesus’ words of woe alongside his description of blessedness. The dichotomy of blessing and woe provides deep insight into who we are called to be as Jesus’ disciples. Even though a crowd had gathered, Jesus looked pointedly at his disciples as he declared these words. May we today have courage to meet Christ’s gaze and hear him inviting us to examine our interior life and calling us to take steps into more faithful discipleship.
As we reflect on Jesus’ words, I’d like to pair each blessing and woe and consider them together.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours . . . But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Matthew’s version reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .” Poverty of spirit is a profound and authentic humility, born of the abject awareness and deep knowing that God is our ultimate need and without God we are nothing and can do nothing. The poor in spirit order their entire being and entire lives around the primacy of God. Christ becomes the one necessary thing around which everything else is ordered. Christ’s life defines them. The “rich” have relegated God to second or third place, allowing self, relationships, or the things of life to predominate. The rich find a sense of security, solace, and satisfaction in things, relationships, or accomplishment. They console themselves with externals and whatever assurance their ego provides.
“Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied . . . But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.” What do you hunger for? What are you filling yourself with to try to assuage that hunger? What kinds of things, relationships, or striving do you pursue in an attempt to fill the void you feel within? Christ calls us to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6). Imagine how different our lives would be if we were desperate for God. Imagine being on the verge of starvation or dying of thirst. That is the state of our soul without God. I think many, if not most Christians have yet to plumb the depth of their own soul to acknowledge its desperate hunger. Let us ask God for the grace to enter our soul’s hunger and yearning for God and to orient our inner being toward finding fulfillment in God alone.
“Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh . . . Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.” What makes you cry? What are the things that touch your heart so deeply as to evoke tears of sorrow, tears of righteous anger, tears of compassion? Do we weep over injustice, ungodliness, and the suffering of others? Those are the things over which Jesus wept. Jesus cautions us if we “laugh now,” because it likely means we are blind and deaf to the needs around us. Like the rich who are content and complacent in their self-centeredness, those who laugh are more concerned with their own needs, wants, and desires. Let us ask God for the grace to weep with those who weep and to become more faithful, selfless servants.
“Blessed are you when people hate you . . . on account of the Son of Man . . . Woe to you when all speak well of you . . .” Standing up for Christ and speaking his truth will always be polarizing. The Gospel is offensive to those who put up barriers to it. We should never be obnoxious when sharing our faith, nor behave in such a way as to intentionally alienate others. But we can expect that as we boldly live our faith and speak truth in love that there will be people in our lives who reject, insult, and exclude us. I’d say we know we’re doing something right when that happens! If we’re living in such a way that “all speak well of us,” then perhaps we’ve insulated ourselves in a falsified version of Christianity, one that feels easy, comfortable, and acceptable to us. Let us ask God for the grace of courage today. May we be bold in witnessing to the love of God and proclaiming the truth of Christ even when it’s difficult. Let us ask God to help us overcome our fear of rejection so that we might be more faithful disciples.
Let us pray for each other today that this might be a day of growth in “Blessed Discipleship.” “Rejoice and leap for joy! Your reward will be great in heaven.” Amen!
Elizabeth Wells