|
|
Good News to the Poor Lk 6:17, 20-26 1. The Human Situation Blessed
are the rich, the world belongs to them Blessed
are the rich, they will always be full, and their only problem is losing
weight. Blessed
are the rich, they will always laugh Blessed
are the rich, they will often get elected to public office, even if they are
incompetent and selfish. Yes, wealth is a blessing and poverty is
a curse -- according to the standard of the world. Woe
to you who are poor, you won’t even have a plot in the cemetery. Woe
to you who are poor, you will always be on a forced diet. Woe
to you who are poor, you will easily get sick and you won’t have the money to
buy medicine or pay the hospital. Woe
to you who are poor, you will always be manipulated and exploited by the
unscrupulous and corrupt politicians. 2. The Word of God In
our Gospel today, Jesus overturns everything. He proclaims that the poor, not
the rich are blessed, for the Why
is the poor blessed? Is Jesus promising a pie in the sky when the poor die? Jesus does not say that poverty is a
blessing. The
Good News that Jesus came to proclaim is that when the 3. The Challenge for Christians As
a community of disciples, we are called to continue what Christ started. We
are called to be a Church of the Poor – a community that cares for the poor
in our midst, a community where the poor are empowered to participate in the
liberating mission of Christ. We
are called to make the kingdom a reality in our community, in our society.
This means doing what we can to eradicate poverty, to bring about justice and
peace. It
is only when the kingdom truly becomes a reality that the poor will truly be blessed. |