St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes

by Shiu Lan
2019-02-17
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 17:5-8


1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20


Luke 6:17, 20-26


This Sunday’s Gospel reading is St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, wherein he pairs four blessings with four woes:
“Blessed are you who are poor”, “woe to you who are rich” (Luke 6:20, 24)
“Blessed are you who are hungry”, “woe to you who are full” (Luke 6:21, 25)
“Blessed are you who weep”, “woe to you who are laughing” (Luke 6:21, 25)
“Blessed are you when people hate you, … and defame you on account of the Son of Man” , “woe to you when all speak well of you” (Luke 6:22,26)

When I ponder on the blessings and woes and reflect on my own experiences, indeed if all of my life, I had been rich, full, laughing and well-spoken of by everyone, what sort of person would I be? The riches of this world might turn me into someone arrogant and proud, envious and selfish, someone who may not be able to tell right from wrong. I would become someone who only knows material happiness and might pursue it in a less than proper way. It would gradually take me down a path where my conscience would become biased, my heart hardened and I would drift farther and farther away from Jesus’ way of truth and life (Ref John 14:6). I would only see myself, my own desires and not anyone else’s needs. Eventually I must suffer from the consequences of my own decisions and actions. As I blame others for my challenges, hurdles or sufferings in life, I am living a life of misery.

If we pursue happiness offered by the world, there will be a void in our hearts that can never be filled. God has placed the desire for joy and happiness in our hearts in order to draw us to Him. Only God alone can fulfil our deepest desire. We can never find true happiness on a path that takes us away from our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Francis said that the Beatitudes are Jesus’ portrait, his way of life, they are the way of true happiness. They are at the heart of Jesus' preaching and perfects the commandments of the Old Covenant. We can live in Jesus’ way of life with the grace that He gives us (Ref. CCC 1716, 1718 and Pope Francis’s general audience in August 6, 2014). We are not alone, Jesus will help us if we strive to live out what he teaches us.

When, in our life, we endure some poverty, hunger, sorrow or being hated literally and metaphorically, we must remember that this is how Jesus lives. If we live like Him, St. Luke assures us that “[our] reward is great in heaven” and when Jesus comes again, we will “rejoice in that day” and “leap for joy” (Luke 6:23)

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