Gospel
Lk 6:17, 20-26
Jesus came down with the twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. And raising his eyes toward his disciples he 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. 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.”
Homily
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One of the important things for us to remember is that God is not a masochist. God does not want suffering, nor does God inflict pain and suffering on persons. What at times appears to be unwarranted suffering comes about because of the imperfection of creation, (Earthquake in Haiti) and/or because of the sinful structures of our society. These sinful structures are created by the selfish choices of persons today. Who can deny the pain caused by the economic downturn of last year? Or the suffering caused by AIDS/HIV? We can react to suffering of this kind by railing against God or our fate. We can however unite our sufferings to those of Jesus and offer them up with Jesus for the salvation of the world. People of faith react to unwarranted and unsolicited suffering in this way remembering the words of St. Paul that for those who love God everything turns out for good.
There are times however when we can live the values of Jesus, (the Son of Man) only at the price of great suffering. It takes great heroism to face the loss of employment for decrying injustice in the workplace, or for refusing to be part of unjust schemes. It takes great heroism to accept being ostracized and ridiculed for holding fast to authentic Christian values. It takes great courage to speak out against institutionalized injustice in the face of threats to one’s life. These are the situations which make us truly blessed in the eyes of God.
In a very true sense this Gospel passage reminds us of our vocation to Martyrdom, our vocation received at baptism and deepened at confirmation to witness to the truth of the Gospel even at the price of poverty and hunger and hatred and ostracization and even death.
There are many who have been faithful to this vocation. The lives of all martyrs, ancient and contemporary, witness to the truth of the Gospel and tell us that ordinary persons like ourselves can indeed be heroic and achieve blessedness.
This last Sunday before Lent gives us therefore a topic of reflection for Lent; Am I blessed in the eyes of God remembering that blessedness is not about the quantity of the world’s goods that one possesses but rather about the ability to hold fast to Gospel values even in the face of suffering.
Prayer
God our Father, we thank you for the lesson which your Son Jesus gives us today. His way of acting is so different to ours but so much better than ours in the struggle which we have to make our world a better place. The world tells us that blessedness comes about by having plenty. Jesus tells us that the true Blessedness only comes about through our allegiance to Gospel values even in the face of great suffering. Give us the wisdom and the courage to do as the Saints and Martyrs did striving to be ever more faithful to HIM who loved us first. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother and your son Jesus. Amen
