"Blessed are you who are poor . . ."
Luke 6: 17, 20-26
There is a wonderful story told about the third century Roman
martyr and Deacon St. Lawrence. The
Roman Emperor Valerian decided that it was time to put to death all Bishops,
Priest and Deacons of the Christian Church in Rome and to confiscate all the
wealth of the Church. St. Lawrence had
been given responsibility to oversee all the wealth of the local Church and to
care for the poor in their need. The Emperor captured him but before killing
him he gave Lawrence three days to gather all the wealth of the Church and to
turn it over to the Emperor.
So Lawrence immediately began to distribute all the possessions
and property of the church to the poor.
On the third day he appears before the Emperor and turned to gesture
back to the door through which poured crowds of the poor, the destitute, the
sick, the blind and the crippled. He said to the Emperor: “These are the
treasures of the Church and the Church is far richer than the Emperor.” You can imagine what happened next and St.
Lawrence has been honored as a courageous and insightful early Roman martyr.
If we were given a choice between being rich or poor, I have no
doubt that the vast majority of us would choose rich. It just seems to bring
fewer worries in life and having unlimited wealth will create a kind of fairy
tale existence. We are saturated with the mantra that wealth is a kind of
blessing that everyone should pursue. It seems to be the whole purpose of life,
actually. But that would be false indeed as St. Lawrence reminded us.
In the time of Jesus the tags of poor and rich were quite
different than today. The poor were
powerless to do anything about their lot like orphans and widows. They lived weighed down by their socially
unfortunate fate. There was no hope for
a better future and no opportunity for advancement. Meanwhile the rich became
rich because they had the power to take wealth away from those who were not
able to defend themselves. In the
ancient world power was the means of attaining wealth. You can imagine what this did to society as a
whole. So greed was a not uncommon way
of life and many suffered as a result of it.
Our Gospel this Sunday challenges us on much of this. Although social conditions in the time of
Jesus were extreme compared to now the temptation for power, advantage, and
greed has not left us. But, is it wrong to be wealthy? Ask the winner of a lottery jackpot if they
think their unexpected luck was unfortunate. Money is just money it’s we who
make choices that affect others for either good or ill. That power of free will
is what Jesus may indirectly be addressing in the Gospel. So it’s not wealth that is wrong but how we
use it greatly matters for people of faith. There is a moral side to wealth and
advantage the poor do not have.
Unlike Matthew, Luke has Jesus more direct and concrete in his accounting
of Jesus’ Beatitudes. The “poor in spirit”
become the “poor.” Blessed are the
poor and “woe” to the rich! Jesus comes
down from the heights and addresses the crowd on a level stretch. In Matthew, Jesus goes up and so it becomes
the sermon on the “mount.” Luke’s concern for the poor and their condition is
one Jesus identifies with. So, here
Jesus comes down to them; he lowers himself to their condition and embraces it
as his own.
These beatitudes in Luke become both a blessing and a warning.
The blessing is to say to those who are poor not because you are poor but because
you’ve suffered greatly God has a reward waiting for you. The Gospel does not praise poverty so much as
it condemns greed. Poverty in the
ancient world was brought about by the greed of others who took everything for
themselves leaving nothing for most.
Jesus reminds those unfortunate to have hope because God has not
forgotten you or dismisses you like others.
Rather, he bestows a special honor on you and will provide more than you
imagine. You are a treasure before God who does not forget you. Our Lord
brought words of great hope to a people who were hopeless. This is not the only
place we hear of the heart of God from Jesus.
Remember the story of the beggar names Lazarus who begged right
outside the door step of the wealthy man (Lk 16: 19 - 31). That man did nothing to alleviate the
condition of Lazarus; he knew he was right outside his door and simply ignored
him. After they both died the tables
were turned.
Recall Jesus scene of the last judgement in Matthew’s Gospel
when the sheep and goats are separated (Mt 25: 31-46). “I was
hungry and you fed me; thirsty and you gave me drink; naked and you clothed me
. . .” etec. We are called to
generosity not to greed. It’s not all
for me but given as gift for everyone and our salvation depends on this. In
fact as Christians this responsibility to give away is not optional for any of
us to be authentic followers of Jesus.
Now, we could immediately go to the principles of social
justice and that would not be inappropriate of course. We must care for the human needs of others in
ways of compassion and mercy. And, on a broad level, like the plain Jesus came
to address the crowds, this fundamental principle of fairness and justice can
be applied across the board as it were. Which
does not mean that the rich should give it all away but rather recognize the
opportunity before them to use wealth for the good of others.
Our first reading from Jeremiah has the outspoken prophet
wasting no words. He speaks of “Cursed is the one who trusts in human
beings, who seeks his strength in flesh.”
But, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.” If
we lay our ultimate trust on the things of God and not the things of this world
as if this is the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, then we will be
blessed.
Our faith compels us to do good for others. To share, to give,
to remember those who have little of what we have been fortunate enough to
acquire. If God is truly the center of
our lives, and we see our faith as a great treasure, then material wealth a
is not something that we have acquired merely through our own
genius as if nothing was more
important. Our faith moves us to believe
that if I give away a portion of what I have for the benefit of others God will
still care for me because as Jeremiah reminds us: “Blessed in the one who trusts in the Lord.” The sin of indifference is one that the prophets and Jesus himself reminds us is deadly.
At times the Scriptures comfort us and other times they call us
to discomfort. Today’s readings are the
latter. Our discomfort may well be a
sign that we need to open up and let go, not holding on to stuff as if it were
the end all and be all of life. There is
no justification for indifference to the suffering of others. The treasure of
our faith is given as gift to bring us to greater holiness.
Jesus offers himself to us in the Eucharist when he gave it all
away for our salvation.
Open our eyes
to the needs of our brothers and sisters;
inspire in us words and actions
to comfort those who labor and are burdened,
Make us serve them truly,
after example of Christ and at his command.
And may your church stand as a living witness
to truth and freedom,
to peace and justice,
that all people may be raised up
to a new hope.
(4th Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs:
Jesus, who went about doing good)
Roman Missal
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