6th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Readings: Jeremiah 17:5-8

     1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

     Luke 6:17, 20-26

 

 "Blessed we you poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours…”

 

There are two versions of the Beatitudes in the gospels: that of Matthew and that and that of Luke. For exegetical reasons, we observe some dissimilarities. One, while Matthew has eight beatitudes, Luke has only four. Two, while Matthew refers to spiritual poverty, Luke stresses material poverty. Three, while Luke has woes, Matthew has none. Today's gospel is taken from Luke.

 

1. "Blessed are you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours…” In today's version, we see why God calls the poor blessed. The reason springs from God's preferential option for the poor. And God has this preference precisely because of his goodness. This means that God’s goodness is such super abundant that it overflows to everyone especially to those who need it most. The poor are just that kind of people who need it most. So, God blesses them because God is good. The blessedness of the poor must, therefore, be understood not so much because of any moral worthiness of the poor, as it is because of God's goodness and love unto them. And this applies to the hungry, to those who mourn and weep, to those who are insulted, etc. For actually, they are most likely the same poor people in different situations of life.

 

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation..." If the beatitudes tell us about God's preferential option for the poor, the woes on the other hand bespeak of a certain “divine repugnance" towards the rich. This Lukan version seems to be one-sided. But this is just the version of Luke. It favors the poor over and above the rich just as the version of Matthew stresses the poverty in spirit.

 

2. Now, the thrilling portion comes. Is this not unfair? Human experience is our good teacher. A poor man is not necessarily a good man. There are just many of them who are habitual drunkards, quarrelsome, etc. There are those poor who get no work because they don’t want to work, and thus frequently borrow money without even having the intention of paying it back There are those who are simply content with being poor, and are thus care free to the issues of poverty and indifferent to the struggles of the poor. And worse, there are those who use poverty or their being poor to make money out of the situation. Such is the case of the professional beggars, squatters, the swindlers, etc. These are the poor who have not only dirty faces but also dirty attitudes.

 

On the other side, experience also tells us that a rich man is not necessarily a bad man. There are many rich people who are kind-hearted by nature. Aside from being friendly, they are the rich who could not afford to simply look at the needs of others. Out of their own purse, they do not hesitate to extend whatever true generosity demands of them. Not only that, their honest search in life helps and leads them to be sensitive to the issues of poverty and participate actively in the struggles of the poor. Inspired by this, a good number of rich people join them, and many others try to follow their footsteps so that they too earn their present status as rich after long years of honest labor. These are the rich who are not only handsome in faces but also in attitudes.

 

Now, where is God's justice?

 

3. If initially the version of Luke ignites this fiery question on God’s fairness, a closer look at it makes us discover that the Lukan beatitudes and woes are in fact said in order to teach a very important moral lesson on divine justice. The gospel provides the answer: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation…”

 

a. The life of a rich man is a life of comfort. It is a life, which does not anymore worry about needs, but a life busy of entertaining wants and likes. The rich does not worry about what to eat, what to wear and where to stay. He can attend to wherever school he wants and get whatever course he likes. He can travel else where, even around the world. He can engage in any business and enrich himself all the more. In short, he has all the opportunities in life, which the poor man does not have. This is the kind of life, which everybody wants and in fact strives to achieve. All men desire for this kind of life. But only the rich have it. And certainly, they are just so fortunate to have it. Thus, is this not enough a consolation?

 

Much more, Luke has other reasons for his woes. Certainly, this is not to portray an unjust God. The woes .are meant to teach his hearers or readers about how the rich become naturally prone to the bad side of life because of their status. This seems to be the constant illustration of Luke regarding wealth not only in his gospel but also in the Acts. To Luke, money is God's competitor. Once a person turns to it as his master, he not only forgets God but also hates God on account of it. That is why he calls money a tainted thing (cf Lk 16:9-13). Riches make man insensitive to others especially the less fortunate. This was the case of the rich man who could not recognize the presence of Lazarus (cf. Lk 16:19 ff), of the priest and the Levite who even took the opposite side of the road to avoid the fallen man who badly needed help (cf Lk 10:29 ff). When man becomes so obsessed by his possessions, he thinks of enlarging it all the more, forgetting that his real destiny is beyond this earthly life. Such was the case of the rich man who thought of building new barns for his harvest, but only to lose everything and face God empty-handed, for God took his life at a time when he was unprepared for it (cf Lk 12:16 ff). Indeed it would just be that difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (cf Lk 18:18 ff). Possessions in this life, therefore, get their real value only when they are shared by all according to each one's needs (cf Acts 2:45; 4:32). These are some Lukan accounts regarding riches. Our very own experiences teach us even more.

 

b. The life of the poor, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It is a sad and a difficult life. This is why no one wants to be poor for the sake of it. And since by the natural course of things the poor man finds no one to .be a trusted ally. God comes in to fill his basic needs and longings. Thus, the kingdom is theirs. Satisfaction is promised to the hungry; laughter to them who mourn, and great heavenly reward to them who are hated and insulted on account of the Son of Man.

 

With this, it becomes clear why God has his preferential option for the poor and repugnance towards the rich. This is how he dispenses his justice. The poor he calls blessed not because they are good, but simply because they are poor. And the woes he throws to the rich, not because the rich are bad, but simply because they are rich. Would it not be a graver injustice when after enjoying in this life the rich goes to heaven, and after suffering so much in this life the poor goes to hell?