Sermon on the Plain

Today's Reflections

                                                                          

Sermon on the Plain 

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Lk 6:20-26

²⁰Raising his eyes toward his disciples, [Jesus] said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for the kingdom of God is yours.

²¹Blessed are you who are now hungry,

for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who are now weeping,

for you will laugh.

²²Blessed 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.

²³“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.

²⁴But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

²⁵But woe to you who are filled now,

for you will be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will grieve and weep.

²⁶Woe to you when all speak well of you,

for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

Reflection:

Raising his eyes toward his disciples. Note that the Beatitudes in Luke are addressed to Jesus’ disciples. Jesus does not choose for his core team, whom he is to send on mission, the crème de la crème of society. He chooses the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who will be hated, excluded, and insulted by people.

While talents, abilities, and human resources are not belittled, Jesus chooses the weak in order to show that their efficacy and fruitfulness comes from God and from their union with him. And indeed, how these men, who would not make the headlines today, changed the world. “Their voice has resounded through all the earth,” as we say in the liturgy.

It is men and women imbued

with the spirit of the Beatitudes

who change the world for the better.