The Blessed of God

The Blessed of God

February 13, 2022, 6th Sunday OT - C 

by Dcn. Bob Bonomi

Today’s Gospel is generally known as Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain” and it is Luke’s version of Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount”, commonly known as the “Beatitudes”.  While many think that these two are different interpretations of the same event, they are most likely two different events as Jesus would have preached with this theme often as he journeyed throughout Judea.

So, what is a “Beatitude”?

We might replace “Blessed are those …” with “Favored are those …”, and so a beatitude might be considered a measure of “Blessedness”, or a definition of what God considers as the measures of holiness in His people.  In his beatitudes, Jesus also tells us “how” people would be blessed if they possess this measure of holiness – their “reward”, if you will.  Jews of the time believed that the measure of God’s favor was reflected primarily in earthly measures of health, wealth, and procreativity.  We see this throughout the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms like in Psalm 1 and Psalm 40 which were included in the responsorial psalm for today.

But Jesus’ measure blessedness was counter-intuitive to the Jewish belief at the time.  And this can be seen in both Matthew’s and Luke’s  Gospels.

Matthew lists 9.  They and their corresponding blessing are:
1.    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2.    Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
3.    Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
4.    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
5.    Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
6.    Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
7.    Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
8.    Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
9.    Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Luke only lists 4, which correspond roughly to Matthew’s first, second, fourth and ninth ones.
1.    Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
2.    Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.
3.    Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.
4.    Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

But unlike Matthew, in addition to the blessings, Luke also includes warnings for those who fail to pursue them:

Blessed are you who are poor / Woe to you who are rich.
Blessed are you who are now hungry / Woe to you who are filled now.
Blessed are you who are now weeping / Woe to you who laugh now.
Blessed are you when people hate you / Woe to you when all speak well of you.

Does this mean that you should not be rich, or well-fed, or happy, or thought well of?  No, of course not.  But they do present a warning to living a life that is comfortable and the consequences if you live that life unaware of the challenges others face in this life.  (Maybe instead of saying, “… you will be …”, it should read “… you should be …”, which would better reflect how we should identify with those who are experiencing these states of life.)

It also means that if you are suffering today from poverty, hunger, depression, isolation or discrimination, God still loves you and has something better in mind for you.  

Scholars also point out there’s a difference in focus in how Luke presents his blessings and woes.  

Luke’s blessings and woes address the real economic and social conditions of humanity (the poor vs. the rich; the hungry vs. the satisfied; those grieving vs. those laughing; the outcast vs. the socially acceptable).

By contrast, Matthew emphasized the religious and spiritual values of disciples in the kingdom inaugurated by Jesus (“poor in spirit,”, “hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on.”) But in all instances, there will be a reversal of fortunes as measured in the heavenly kingdom to come for those who cannot identify with those who are less fortunate.

And we don’t have to “earn” God’s blessings.  We, through God’s Love, are already blessed.  But if we are blessed, then we should take to heart what can happen if we don’t appreciate His blessings, and if we don’t recognize from whom those blessings stem.  Like Jeremiah:  “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, but blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD”.  If we depend on others for our prosperity, good health, or other earthly blessings, we not only risk disappointment but we may miss out on the true blessings that come from God.

We are all already blessed.  But we should understand that true blessings do not come from what we have here on Earth but in what we will receive in Heaven.  And we don’t want to lose what God has already promised us.

Like the question I asked earlier, a priest-friend of mine likes to ask this question of children and adults alike:  What is a Beatitude?  His answer:  It’s an Attitude to Be. If we profess to be Christian, then others should recognize us as Christians by how we live out these beatitudes, these blessings. By our Love.

Those of you who were ever on an ACTS Retreat with Hector Cardenas before he passed away might remember one of his favorite adages:

“My point to you is, Life should not be about working through your To Do List, but is all about working through your To Be List!” Most of us, if we even made a list of New Year’s resolutions have already cast them aside, and if you’re like me you have a to-do list of tasks to accomplish at work or honey-do things at home.  But it isn’t what we accomplish that is important to God.  It is who we are that is.

God didn’t create Human-Doings, He created Human-Beings.  Let your humanity show just how God has blessed you.  And if you don’t feel blessed today, remember Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: God will bless you when it counts the most – in heaven, for all eternity.