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WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025

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Gospel

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. "Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."



REFLECTION

"Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.


St Luke, writing to a Gentile audience, includes only four Beatitudes and pairs them with the corresponding four woes in the Sermon on the Plain. We can see more clearly the contrast between the blessed (who are poor now) and the accursed (who are rich now).


We are made for happiness with God. Happiness is desired by every human being. We have to choose to be happy. With our free will we can choose the passing things of this world, lead a fantasy life, or do whatever we please, seeking our own comfort and pleasure. Our best choice is to have a relationship with God, walking firmly in faith with joy. He offers to help us carry the crosses of our lives so that we can continue to choose to be happy. The Beatitudes are our guide: they are the heart of Jesus. We choose Jesus, leaving behind anger, resentment, self pity and pride.


This reliance on God is understood as the “Poor in Spirit”. We need God’s care for us as well as His all powerful blessings. We don’t demand or command things of God but we seek to surrender and be open to accept all things as gifts from God. I choose to fear God, and to detach myself to the things of this world.


The all good Lord invites us to accompany Him in becoming “Poor in Spirit”, losing the sin of pride and leaving behind self centeredness and self reliance.


The Holy Spirit will take over and transform our hearts if we let Him.


Blessings (Luke 6:20–23):

  1. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

  2. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.”

  3. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”

  4. “Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”

Woes (Luke 6:24–26):

  1. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”

  2. “Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.”

  3. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.”

  4. “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”


God Bless You


 
 
 

3 Comments

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Guest
Sep 10

Thank you, Nononsense, for your time, comments and teachings.

I will address my statements that made no sense.

  1. “The Beatitudes are our guide : they are the heart of Jesus”. In the CCC 1716 the Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus’ preachings. 1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray His charity”. I equated His love to His heart, the Beatitudes to me describe the new heart that the Holy Spirit will create in me which is the very heart of Jesus.

  2. “The reliance on God is understood as the “Poor in Spirit”. My understanding of being poor in spirit is the self awareness of my spiritual weaknesses or emptiness and my total dependen…

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Nononsense
Sep 11
Replying to

Salve Olivia:

God bless you and thanks for responding.

I see a disparity of comparison. A fallacy in logic.

When you say the Beatitudes is the heart of Jesus, it does not make sense.

(1) Beatitudes consist of at least eight realistic conditions for being blessed.

(2) The word heart carries both the physical and spiritual meanings. Each would carry you into a different realm.

(3) Conflating the eight dimensions of blessed into the word heart, does not make sense. Each dimension deserves to be a branch of spirituality and deserves its own study.

(4) Squeezing all of them into a word heart does seem appropriate.

(5) "The Beatitudes is the heart of preaching" makes more sense.

The general Catholic…

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Nononsense
Sep 10

Salve Olivia:

God bless you for writing.

Several things do not make sense:

(1) "The Beatitudes are our guide: they are the heart of Jesus"???!

Really!

That does not make sense.

(1) "This reliance on God is understood as "the Poor in spirit"!

Is that true?

It doesn't make sense!

Is Jesus speaking about "you who are poor" or about "the poor in spirit?"

What does He mean by "the Poor in spirit" according to Him, not according to how you understand?

(3) The all good Lord invites us to accompany Him in becoming "Poor in spirit"?!

That doesn't make sense at all.

Do you need to become poor? Are we not poor already? Why do we need to become…

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