Wednesday, September 11, 2002
23nd Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 Cor 7:25-31
Gospel: Lk 6:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to his disciples, Jesus said,
"Fortunate are you who are poor, the kingdom of God is yours."
Fortunate are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Fortunate are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you and insult
you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice
in that day and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.
Remember that is how the ancestors of this people treated the prophets.
But alas for you who have wealth, for you have been comforted now.
Alas for you who are full, for you will go hungry.
Alas for you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors
of these people treated the false prophets."
Commentary
Prayer also enables one to transcend reversals of life and see where true happiness lies. Also on the "plain" after coming down from a whole night of prayer, Luke makes Jesus pronounce the beatitudes and woes. It is wrong to see the message of Jesus in these reversals to be "pie in the sky." On the contrary, the reign of God is already here! For, God in Jesus the Christ has clearly demonstrated the divine predilection for the poor whose security is in God alone and not in anyone or in anything else. And happy, indeed, are the disciples who follow Jesus, the Prophet, who no matter what the dominant and privileged would do to him, went on proclaiming and doing the justice and peace of God to show that the reign is truly here and now.