Blessed are the poor. Woe to you who are rich

Luke 6:17, 20-26

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all. And raising his eyes toward his disciples he 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.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you consider yourself to be rich? What comparisons do you use to answer this question?
2. How can an over-attachment to our various forms of wealth be a detriment rather than a blessing to our spiritual journey?
3. If you were to take a stance for justice in your church or community, what issue would you want to address? What might be the ramifications of your taking action?
4. In what ways might wealth blind you from areas where you need God’s Mercy?

Biblical Context

Sr. Mary M. McGlone CSJ
Luke 6: 17, 20-26

Many people identify today’s reading as a version of “The Sermon on the Mount.” In reality, only the Gospel of Matthew (5-7) presents it as a discourse on a mountain. In contrast with Matthew’s presentation, Luke sets the stage by having Jesus come down from the mountain where he had been praying before naming the Twelve who would be called apostles. When they came to the level ground where a crowd awaited him, Jesus addressed his disciples with the words we hear in today’s Gospel.

Beginning with his blunt, “Blessed are you who are poor,” Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ blessings and curses is much more direct than Matthew’s seemingly gentler, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Jesus’ word for “poor” (ptochos) referred to people who were bowed down or cowering like beggars. It was the same word Jesus used to describe Lazarus, the poor man who crouched near the gate of a wealthy man who never noticed him. (Luke 16:20.)

To many in Israel, poverty was a curse, a sign of God’s disfavor. Humanly, it is difficult to believe in the blessedness of the poor. Rather than rejoice in Psalm 34 which says that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted, we are more comfortable with Psalm 1 which declares that those who love God are like trees planted near streams that yield their fruit and whose leaves never wither. We want to believe that the good prosper and therefore that prosperity is a sign of goodness in God’s sight. But that is not what Jesus taught, neither in this homily nor by the example of his life.

Luke makes it very clear that the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the rejected are particularly blessed in God’s eyes, while those who have more than they need and think their affluence gives them the security to laugh at tomorrow are the ones to be pitied. Jesus’ message is scathingly direct: He says “you” to both the poor and the rich, the hungry and the satiated, those who weep about the conditions of their world and those who enjoy them.

What are we to do as we hear this message? We live in one of the richest countries in the world. Those among us who are well-educated or trained for work and who have strong connections cannot ever be poor like people whose income hovers under $5 per day. Nor would an increase in such poverty be a good thing.

If we really desire the blessings Jesus promises in this selection, it seems that our only entry point is by being among those who weep. Luke mentions weeping at least three times as often as does any other evangelist. In addition to the Beatitudes, Luke portrays people weeping over death (7:13, 8:52); he shows Peter weeping after denying Jesus (22:62); and he mentions the weeping of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet (7:38). Most uniquely, Luke tells us that Jesus himself wept over the city of Jerusalem, the city that was about to demand his death. (19:41) Luke portrays holy tears as the response to conversion, death, betrayal and hardness of heart.

In the apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Francis explains the woe of a world without weeping. Elaborating on Jesus’ words, Francis warns us, “Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own” (#54).

Because of our privilege, most of us will never be truly poor or hungry. But there are very few among us who are incapable of compassion, the openness to others that makes us vulnerable to their pain. If we wish to be among the blessed in Jesus’ reign of God, we must learn from and about the poor so that their hope becomes our own. Then, step by step, we will experience beatitude.

Overabundance and Complacency
Reflection

Gloria Couvion

As I prepare to sell my home of 30 years, I am often frustrated by the amount of possessions I have accumulated over the years. It is not only the things I have collected over the past three decades but also the things I brought with me when I moved into this house. When going through boxes, I find things that were once important and now have no meaning, or at least I have forgotten the meaning. I must wonder why it was so special and why I felt the need to save it.

Once I have determined that I no longer want or need the object, I struggle with what to do next. Were there times when those possessions came between me and God? Carl Jung said, “What is a normal goal for a young person becomes a neurotic hindrance in old age.” How do I get back on track and focus on what is important?

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus came to restore the people of God and remind them of their moral obligation to care for the marginalized. Even though the threat of religious persecution was real, the disciples came to listen. They were most likely protective of the few possessions they had, and their very existence was dependent on various methods of survival, but they came anyway. Jesus wanted them to know that even in their life full of insufficient or inadequate resources they were the ones blessed because they were there to listen in the face of fear and doubt. He wanted them to know their reward would be in heaven despite their struggle on earth. That message must have seemed troublesome to a group who were most likely homeless and hungry. Those gathered on that plain had little to distract them from listening. Their hope was in the Lord.

We are taught that sin is when we make choices that separate us from God. Hoarding wealth and ignoring the needs of those less fortunate also separates us from God. In the Gospel, Jesus makes it quite clear that it may keep us from out of the kingdom. He calls out the rich and preaches that they have received their kingdom on earth. In their world, they have no need for God’s mercy because their needs are already being met by the “good life.”

But the psalmist reminds us that we can prosper if we choose to live a just life. The rich are not locked out but must let their roots spread to others in kindness and generosity. They can make a choice to hoard their wealth as the poor struggle to survive, or they can bear fruit and share it with others.

So, what shall I do with the overabundance of possessions that hinder my relationship with God? What shall I do with the things that keep me frozen in time?

Those gathered on the stretch of level ground were free of encumbrances and were able to be open to the preaching of Jesus. The kingdom of God is within our reach but until we can see God in the eyes of the poor and act on it, we linger on the periphery. In a culture where identity is often attached to some product, possession, or political preference, it is difficult to break the habits that separate us from God.

As for the material possessions I accumulated in life, I must share them, donate them, and give them away freely so that others may use them.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is challenging for all. The poor must have hope that there is a kingdom of God and someday they will “leap for joy” in God’s presence while the rich must turn loose of those things in which they have come to find comfort. The comfort we seek is found in the kingdom of God, not in wealth or possessions.

Reflection from Give Us This Day

Gloria Couvion is St. Mary’s Director of Religious Education and Faith Formation in Edwardsville IL. Gloria received her Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies, Liturgy/Spiritual Direction from Aquinas Institute of Theology. Her education and experience as a Catholic Pastoral Coordinator for the US Air Force make her an integral part of St Mary’s Parish administration.