Homily Notes 6th Sunday of Ordinary Times 2019
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time/ “Blessings, and also, Woes”
The Gospel that we read today is disconcerting. We read the Beatitudes, but not the Beatitudes that we expect. Several times during the year we read the Gospel of Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes. We read Matthew’s Beatitudes at weddings. We read them at funerals. Every All Saints day we read them. We kind of zone out when we hear them. We probably think subconsciously, I have heard these before. But the beatitudes we read today are the Evangelist Luke’s Beatitudes. We could ask, why are they so different?
The two versions of the Beatitudes are different because there are two different writers who want to emphasize two different ideas. Matthew wrote his version of the Beatitudes first. He was writing to a Jewish audience. Luke copied his Beatitudes from Matthew. He was writing to a Gentile audience. He needed to write differently to make a different point.
We could compare it to two people looking at the same event trying to describe it to someone else. We all have been listening to people describe our weather throughout the last few weeks. We hear one person says, “I heard the weather report, it says there will be twelve inches of snow tomorrow.” Another person will review the same report saying that, “No, I heard one to two inches.” One person obviously is listening to the worst-case scenario. The other person is listening to the best-case prediction. But if you hear the first case you want to run to the grocery store to lay in supplies for the next week. In the second case you just make sure the snow blower will start one more time. Matthew and Luke heard the same oral tradition. Each one chose to emphasize what they felt was important for their audience.
But how are the two versions different. Matthew had 9 beatitudes. Luke had four. In Matthew the beatitudes are part of the lengthy sermon on the Mount. In Luke, Jesus comes down from the mountain after praying, after picking out his apostles. He gives his sermon on plain which is much shorter.
But really the thing that is unsettling is that Luke includes stark contrasts in his beatitudes. Luke loves to do that. Matthew is very subtle. His beatitudes are very gentle. We sense the incongruity, but we can soften what he says. For instance, the first thing he says in his Sermon on the mount is Blessed are the poor in spirit.” We could say that Jesus is not against people have riches, but they are to not be caught up in worldly things to the detriment of their spiritual life.
Luke says simply, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” He follows his beatitudes with four woes the first of which says, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation now.” Luke wants to comfort the less fortunate. Luke wants to challenge the wealthy. The Evangelist clearly says that anyone who is well off in this world has reaped the sum-total of their reward. Luke says, if you are struggling now, you will receive comfort in the Kingdom of Jesus. We might surmise that if we suffer a lot in this world in the afterlife, we will find ecstasy.
We remember the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in chapter 16 of Luke. As we recall, after death, Lazarus rested in the bosom of Abraham. The rich man resided in the abode of the dead where he was in torment. He had no consolation. Perhaps he was left for all eternity to wrestle with his conscience wishing that he had been more responsive to those in need.
We could use each of Luke’s four beatitudes and his woes as an examination of conscience. We might ask various thought-provoking question, “Why do I live in comfort while there are others in the world who lack all kinds of necessities. When I dress each morning, do I think about the plight of the people who have made my clothes living on subsistence wages? When I slice by banana on my cereal, do I think about the poor farmer in another country who picked that fruit, who probably lives in substandard housing? When I use my cell phone, do I think of the person who mined the arsenic that goes into magnets? The person who lives in South Africa. The miner whose health is probably in jeopardy?
Jesus, according to Luke, wants us always to remember things like this. If we forget we are living on the surface of life. If we do not live reflectively, we will never allow the preaching of Jesus to prick are conscience or comfort us in our struggles. Jesus always wants his words to take root in our heart so it may soften, and we may be the light that dispels darkness in the world.