9/10/2014 – Wednesday of 23rd week in ordinary time - Luke 6:20-26

        Today, in the beatitudes of Luke's Gospel, we hear Jesus address those whom he calls blessed: the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are isolated and insulted.   Jesus tells them that they can expect precisely the opposite of their present situations.  This can mean so many different things, both in Jesus’ day and in our present day.  We see so many who are poor trying to struggle to survive here on earth, but we see many who suffer from poverty of spirit or meaning in their lives.  There are those who hunger for food in their lives, who do not have enough to eat, but also those who hunger for friendship, those who hunger for hope or for a deeper connection to the divine in their lives. 

          I don’t think a lot of those whom Jesus listed would see themselves as blessed.  However, Pope Francis is saying somewhat the same thing in the Joy of the Gospel.   Pope Francis says that the poor have a special place in the Lord’s heart.  If you look at the Gospels, it was often the poor and dispossessed who followed him and had faith in him, who hungered for the words that he preached.  He assured those who burdened by sorrow or who were crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in his heart.  Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus identifies himself as one of the poor in the crowd, saying “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was in prison and was sick and you visited me.”   How do we show mercy to those whom Jesus calls “blessed.”  How do we hunger for God’s word like they do? How do we unwrap the message of the Beatitudes and let it speak to our lives today?