Show by the raise of hand if you would love to be poor, starving, weeping and hated by everyone. I doubt anyone would be willing to appropriate those “misfortunes.” On the contrary, if we’re asked to show by the raise of hand those who would love to be rich, well fed, laughing and well-spoken of by all, pretty much everyone will raise his or her hand. Those who won’t raise their hand would be the number who just want to give a false impression of humility.
The Gospel message of today would have us all wrong. Did you hear Jesus proclaim the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated and the detestable blessed? And as if that wasn’t jolting enough, he explicitly pronounces woes on the rich, the well-fed, the laughing and those well-spoken of. Jesus presents discipleship as a topsy-turvy world?
To answer these questions, we must enter into the mind of St. Luke, the Evangelist. Although the same Holy Spirit inspired all four evangelists, each person’s audience is different. While Matthew’s audience consisted of Jewish Christians who were faced with a spiritual landslide that called for new attitudes, new mindset, transformation and awakening needed for the kingdom proclaimed by Christ, Luke’s audience constituted of a different demographic. Himself a convert from paganism, Luke addressed fellow converts; his audience was poor, persecuted and marginalized. Luke’s version of the beatitude, unlike Matthew’s and Mark’s places Jesus, not on the mountain, but on the plain, that is, on the same level with the poor, the suffering and the persecuted. Hence, Matthew’s beatitude is called “Sermon on the Mount,” while Luke’s is “Sermon on the Plain.” While Matthew’s beatitudes were eight, Luke gives just four.
Let’s examine these four beatitudes of Luke. The poor are those who recognize their dependence on God, not on possessions. They may be wealthy, yet poor because their stuff really means so little to them. Few years ago, I went to visit a parish family in Sapulpa whose home was gutted by fire. The mother told me: “Father, we’re strong; we have the Lord. What got burnt were stuff. We will rebuild.” This woman identifies with the beatitudes. Those who are now hungry are not just hungry for a well cooked meal; they hunger for the Lord, for His word, and for spiritual experiences that leave them searching for more. Those who weep are concerned Christians who feel for others in their suffering (the victims of the earthquake, mudslide, persecuted Christians in Syria). They weep for those living a sleazy life – throwing away everything for so little. It’s currently fashionable to hate, insult and call people names if they stand for Christ and the truth. Do not be afraid to stand steady.
Turning to the woes, these are not the kind of things the world wants to hear from a Jesus whom they have appropriated for convenience. In fact, looking at our lives from the lens of today’s Gospel, we don’t like what we see. Everything we appear to love and crave for is on that list. But we need not fear. No woe will come our way because we’ve worked hard to earn a living for ourselves and our children, but probably because we have neglected the poor. No woe will befall us because we have enough to eat, but because we overeat, overindulge, waste food, and call it glamor. When our waistlines are dropping to the floor even as children go to bed on empty stomach, how can we escape punishment? No woe will fall on us because we are happy and laugh, but because we perhaps laugh about things we should cry about, or because we celebrate iniquity, immorality and indecency. No woe will fall on us because good and righteous people praise our virtuous life, but because those who sing our praises are the corrupt and depraved who boast about being broadminded. You’ll have to be deaf, blind and utterly closed-minded to claim that these beatitudes haven’t spoken directly to you.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo