Homily: Twenty-third Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Twenty-third Wednesday of Ordinary Time (Lk: 6:20-26) “Woe to You?”

Many stories and sayings in the Gospels are duplicated. When we compare two stories or sayings, they may be almost identical, but then again there may be great differences. This is the case with the beatitudes. We have two versions. One of them is in Matthew. The other version is in Luke.

In Matthew the beatitudes are part of the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke the beatitudes are preached when Jesus comes down from the mountain. It is referred to as the Sermon on the Plain.

Luke’s version is different in several ways. He uses more direct language. For instance, in the first beatitude, he does not say “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” He says simply, Blessed are you who are poor.

Luke’s bluntness is more challenging to us. Quite often we hear preachers soften the first beatitude saying Jesus does not expect us to live in poverty but does want us to not be attached to things. Luke would probably say that if we have more than what we need to live on then this is a spiritual problem.

We also notice a list of woes. Matthew does not have these sayings. The woes make the teaching even more interesting. When we read Luke’s first woe it relates to material possessions, and it offers a greater challenge. We have a sense that wealth can be a spiritual liability. When we have a lot of resources, we can spend our life managing our wealth, protecting our wealth and worrying about whether we have enough resources to maintain our lifestyle.

One of the social sins is consumerism. Our whole economy is based on the premise that consumers must buy more and more so that we can keep our capitalistic system going. If we all chose to use less, then our economy would be harmed.

There is another way. Which is that we use less and take the money that we save and use that for charity. This might be the best reflection of what Jesus is advocating. And this is a way to grow spiritually.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Do I feel I waste resources? What do I waste?

2.   What percentage of my income do I give to charity? How could I do more?

 Dear Parishioners,

           It has come to my attention again that we are not notified when we have parishioners in the hospital or when we have new patients in the nursing home. I would remind everyone that if a loved one is hospitalized you can always call our office and Fr. Matthew, or I will make a pastoral visit. The Sacrament of the Sick offers great comfort to those who are ill. There is a prayer for healing and there is an absolution from sin.

          When a person is ill, they are often drawn back to the faith. It is an opportune time to renew our relationship with our Lord. Please call our office if you know someone is ill and hospitalized.

          May Our Lady pray for us,

          Fr. Mark