Wednesday, September 09, 2020 - 23rd week of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6, 20-26 - Rejoice, be glad, for your reward is great in heaven!
Dear Christians! After choosing the twelve apostles and appointing them, Jesus turned among the people and taught, and He turned to those whom He chose. He addresses His teachings to them because they are ordinary people, poor, often despised. He taught the four beatitudes and the four woes. This is Luke's account, while Matthew speaks of the eight beatitudes. In Matthew's case, Jesus refers to the poor in spirit, but in Luke's case, he speaks to his own poor disciples. Jesus is interested in people's daily lives. Here he describes the four beatitudes that await them and the four woes that await the rich. For Matthew, he calls everyone, poor or rich, to change their hearts and souls; while Luke calls these people to change their way of life and the social order in order to take care of the little ones.
The four beatitudes that Jesus promises to the poor and needy are a reality for ordinary people, especially in poor countries like ours. Indeed, there is often too much difference between the poor and the rich. Jesus tells us to look at our lives (poverty, hunger, tears, suffering...) and those of others so that we do not bend to them but hold our heads high and look to the future, especially to hope that our sacrifice will be rewarded. One of the greatest rewards is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Instead, it calls for misfortune for the rich who do not care about others but instead make selfishness reign. Of course, this does not include all the rich, but there are, alas, people in society who act only for their own well-being. Jesus asks us to reflect. As mentioned above, all our actions will be sanctioned accordingly, so let us always look to the future and the end. This teaching of Jesus is for all of us to reflect on how we live and not to be attached to this life here on earth. Let us keep our minds towards the happiness to come and eternal: the kingdom of heaven.
