Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 6:17,20-26

Today’s Gospel presents Saint Luke’s version of the Beatitudes’ and the subsequent ‘woe to you.’ It is addressed not to the crowds but to his disciples. When Luke wrote his Gospel, his target audience was the Christian community. Luke confronts the realities of poverty, hunger, oppression and persecutions, and brings the message of Jesus to encourage the suffering community. Jesus proclaims the poor, the hungry, the suffering and the persecuted as “blessed”, and he admonishes those who are rich, satisfied, who laugh and are praised by people. The word “Blessed” refers to a message of appreciation. It means to say, “Congratulations on the choice you have made.” However, how can one be congratulated for being poor? Why does Jesus look at his disciples and tell them that they, in their poverty, are blessed? In what sense Peter, Andrew, John, and the other apostles were considered poor? Although they were not very rich, they still had their own house and boat! There must have been many others whose situations were even worse. What extraordinary thing have they done? Not every poor is declared blessed. Jesus does not glorify poverty or hunger. Instead, his disciples, who gave up everything to respond to his call, are called blessed. Poverty, hunger and persecutions that they encounter result from their wilful and personal choice to follow Jesus. And that makes them blessed! After the miraculous catch of fish, “They pulled their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:11). Similar thing happens with the call of Levi: “And leaving everything, he rose and followed him” (Lk 5:28). “Sell everything you have, give to the poor”—Jesus asks the rich young man (Lk 18:22). This voluntary poverty is what characterizes the Christian: “Any of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:33). Luke also presents the admonitions on the disciples who refuse the spirit of the beatitudes. The “woe to you” – addressed to those who are rich and selfish – has the purpose of warning and waking them up from the dangerous deceit of selfishness. It is a call to care for the other while they still have the time to amend their lives. Does this mean that disciples of Jesus should throw away everything, reduce themselves to misery, and become beggars? It would be a foolish and senseless interpretation of Jesus’ words. The goods of this world are precious, essential to life. The Poor of God refuses the selfish use of their wealth, time, intellectual abilities, erudition, diplomas, and social position. ‘Blessed are you poor!’ is not a message of resignation, but of hope, hope in a new world where no one is in need (Acts 4:34).