Lk 6:20-26
Then looking at 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.
REFLECTION
What is proclaimed by Jesus to be blessed state is not destitution, under-nourishment, illiteracy, under-development, indigence. On the contrary, Jesus considers such states as degrading for humans, something which must be eliminated at all costs: at the Last Judgment we will be judged precisely on the manner in which we will have worked to alleviate human misery (Mt 25), in accordance moreover with the exhortations and the example of the Church across the centuries. What is proclaimed blessed is the state of those who, having little, must usually trust in the Father’s providence (while of course doing their best to ensure by their work the minimum income for a decent living). It is the state of those who are not distracted from their situation of children of God promised to eternal bliss by a life filled with luxuries and thrills. At bottom, what is eminently conducive to availability for the Kingdom is the freedom of the poor. Because they experience the uncertainties of a laborious life and the ordinary hurts of life, the poor are aware that only another life in the hereafter can compensate the frustrations of this life and stake their thirst for happiness.
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