Wednesday September 11, 2024

 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

Blessed Are You... Or Woe to You

Introduction

Regarding each one’s state in life, whether celibacy or marriage, Paul gives his personal advice that conversion does not demand anyone to change this status but rather to live this status according to the best of one’s abilities.

Luke is the only evangelist coming from paganism – a world of slavery, fear and oppression, and of moral license. He is so struck by the fact that Christ had a place for the poor and for marginal people, for whom nobody cared in his milieu, that this concern of Christ is one of the major emphases in his gospel, particularly in its social aspects. For example, he says, not like Matthew, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” but “Blessed are you, the poor. Woe to you, the rich....”

Opening Prayer

Lord, God of the rich and the poor,
let the message of Jesus your Son
strike us and shake us up
from our certainties and securities.
Indeed, may we use our riches
of mind and heart and faith and goods
in the service of the poor,
our power for the benefit of others,
our abundance to be shared
and to get us out of our self-satisfaction,
our happiness to console
and bring your joy, not ours.
Make us poor in pride, hungry for justice,
weeping for the evil we have caused.
And let people insult us
when we do not live up to the gospel
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

First Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:25-31

Brothers and sisters:
In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord,
but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
So this is what I think best because of the present distress:
that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation.
Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife.
If you marry, however, you do not sin,
nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries;
but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life,
and I would like to spare you that.
I tell you, brothers, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping, 
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.

Responsorial Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17

(11) Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father's house.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord, and you must worship him.
R. Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
All glorious is the king's daughter as she enters;
her raiment is threaded with spun gold.
In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king;
behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you.
R. Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
The place of your fathers your sons shall have;
you shall make them princes through all the land.
R. Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

Alleluia Lk 6:23ab

Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and leap for joy!
Your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 6:20-26

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus 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."

Intercessions

– For the poor, that God may fill their expectations; for the satisfied, that God may change their hearts and make them capable of sharing, we pray:

– For those who are hungry, that the Lord himself may give them the bread of life and inspire us to give them the bread of every day, we pray:

– For those who now weep, that the Lord may console them with his love; for those who now laugh, that he may remind them of the seriousness of life and make them capable of reflection, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God, with bread and wine
we celebrate the death and suffering
of your Son Jesus Christ.
Teach us here, by his example,
that sickness and pain make sense,
that even death is a seed of life.
In humility and with shame
we accept this insight, Lord,
and ask you to let it inspire us.
May we accept it also
as a hard but saving reality,
by which we try to live, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
you let the Word of your Son upset us,
but this Eucharist gives us the strength
to take his word with open hearts and minds.
Let our riches in any form
not satisfy us but others,
that there may be room in us for hope.
Let us feel the weight of our limitations,
that we may keep hungering
for love and justice and freedom.
Give us tears to weep
that we have not dared to be
your sign of contradiction in this world.
Bless us, Lord, that we may praise and bless you
and your Son, now and for ever.

Blessing

Blessed are you… What God wants is our happiness. He leaves us free: we are the ones to make the choice what we are going to do with our lives. May God give you the right insight and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Commentary

Chicken or Egg?

When it comes to the Commandments and the Beatitudes, some Christians have the same difficulty as we have in deciding if chicken or egg comes first. Here are some insights to help us decide. The Ten Commandments are all about “doing”; but the Beatitudes are primarily about “being”. It is our being that comes first; doing flows from our being. In other words, what we do is determined by who we are. Many Christians look tired, bored, and bereft of joy, precisely because they predicate their faith on this laborious dos and don’ts without having discovered the love that makes it possible. It is hard to keep doing stuff when it does not flow from our being. To paraphrase an insight from theologian James Alison, Christian faith is not about doing good, it is not even about being good; it is all about being loved! Once we realize that we are loved “no matter what”, our self turns noble (Beatitudes) and right actions simply flow from us (Commandments).

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11 September 2024

Luke 6:20-26

Living the Beatitudes

Luke’s Gospel in particular, emphasises Jesus’ concern for those on the margins of society —the poor, the sick, the sinners, and the socially excluded - challenging us to consider reaching out to everyone needing our closeness and assistance. This is evident in the Beatitudes, where Jesus declares the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are persecuted as the blessed of God.  

Jesus' teachings in today’s Gospel highlight the happiness of the poor and suffering in contrast to the troubles of the rich and content. Pope Francis, reflecting on this passage has several times stressed the need for a complete shift in our values and priorities. The pope underlines that Jesus’ message is a call to recognize the dignity and blessedness of the poor. He reminds us that the poor are at the heart of the Gospel and that our response to their needs is a measure of our faith. The Pope calls for a “conversion of our hearts” to truly see and serve the poor as God’s children.

The Pope's message serves as a reminder of the potential pitfalls of wealth and complacency. By echoing Jesus’ caution, he highlights the risk of losing sight of the Kingdom of God in the midst of comfort and affluence. His plea to the faithful encourages them to steer clear of the seductive traps of materialism and self-sufficiency.

The Beatitudes in the Gospel call us to embrace the values of the Kingdom, to recognize the sacredness in moments of poverty and suffering, and to show empathy and generosity towards those facing hardships. Our vocation is to undergo a conversion of heart and transformation of lives to sincerely embody our faith in our daily lives.

Living the Beatitudes - Youtube