Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 - Wednesday in the 23th Week in Ordinary Time
[Col 3:1-11 and Luke 6:20-26]Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours....." [Luke]
Most of us are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Mattew, with the "Beatitudes" and fundamental teaching of Jesus. But the Gospel According to Luke also offers a version of the same teaching but on a plain!! In Luke there are four beatitudes and four curses to balance each of those. These are followed by many of the same teachings as are found in Matthew, but the liturgical calendar this year has the feast of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14) and the Sorrowful Mother (Sept. 15) falling on the next couple of days. So, we will not see them at this time. I urge the reader to go further than today's passage to make their own comparison with Matthew. (Note, the "Our Father" appears elsewhere in Luke at 11:1-4.)
Whether we encounter them in Matthew or in Luke (or elsewhere in the New Testament), Jesus' teachings are a challenge to us, especially when we are confronted with social or political or ethnic attitudes in ourselves that are incompatible with those teachings. We then have to ask which should be shaping which. Should we allow our political (etc.) beliefs to shape our understanding of Jesus' teachings? For a Christian, shouldn't it be the other way around? It's something to think about and examine our consciences to know what we truly believe and do. AMEN