Luke 6:20-29

 Iam a visual person. Whenever I read this gospel passage, I try to create a mental image of the scene when Jesus spoke these words. I try to imagine what the crowd looked like and what they did as He spoke. Where was he looking when he raised his eyes to disciples. Did the disciples return His gaze? Did Jesus’ body language imply that he was receiving the words he was sharing from above or was He speaking to them matter of factfully like we would talk with each other?

In the end this flight of imagination is largely pointless. His message is timeless and it is directed to us, right now today. We are the poor, the hungry, and the saddened but if we are not any of those we are hated.

Father Jack Peterson share on the Beatitudes:

Look at first beatitude which is the door to the others. It is the logical place to begin our efforts to dive deeply into the Gospel way of life. It describes an attitude that needs to govern the heart of the Christian believer. It shapes the whole way in which one approaches life. The first beatitude is, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The poor are those who are fully aware of their profound need for God in every dimension of their lives. They have come to peace with the reality that God is God, and they are not. They are convinced that everything good in life is completely free and flows from the generous hand of God. They trust, like a child, in the goodness of the Father and His desire to take care of His children.

The poor do not rely upon things or people for ultimate meaning or purpose in life, but rather rely upon the love and grace of Almighty God. They are quick to thank God and attribute their blessings and successes to Him. They are also quick to turn to Him when suffering and adversity come, knowing that He will provide strength and show the way through the darkness into the light. They think more about God and neighbor than about themselves, even in times of trial.

This radical reliance upon God that governs the heart of the Christian makes a person truly wise, strong and capable of great acts of love. To be poor is to be Christ-like.

Once God’s grace begins to penetrate our hearts and our lives and we start to become poor, then we will find it easier to understand and desire to live the other beatitudes as well. This realization creates a profound internal struggle.

Yesterday was the 11th year of remembrance of 9/11. How do we respond to the hate that resulted in the destruction of the Towers? How do we react to the renewed sense of rage that might overwhelm as we replay the vivid images of the Trade Center Towers shattering and collapsing?  We also have to measure our individual and personal actions in the years since against the call of the gospel to remember that we are blessed when we are hated for being Christian.

The Gospel says:

"Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven…”

The message for me is that I am called to remember that I am, and we are, among the many called to live today with profound and persevering faith that God will recognize when we have tried to live as though we are poor and tried to remember the example of Jesus in how to respond to hatred.