Reflection for September 10 Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 6:20-26

Gospel: Luke 6:20-26

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.

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Reflection:

Imagine Jesus reading the Gospel to you today. How would you feel? Would you feel blessed? 

The poor, hungry, weeping, hated, and insulted are blessed by Jesus. No matter what others may say about them, they are blessed by Him. But human as we are, we hunger for the luxuries and adulations of life. Who would not want worldly luxuries and adulations? 

Yet if these luxuries and adulations bring us away from Jesus and lead us to embrace this world and eventually sin, what benefit would they give us? Would we still embrace them? We must be discerning at all times, for the devil is always actively seeking to snatch us away from the love of Jesus through worldly things. 

If you are poor in the eyes of this world yet have Jesus in your heart, then you are the richest and most blessed person in this world. Why? Because you choose to center your life on Jesus—the same Jesus who will one day bring you to heaven. 

True blessedness does not lie in what we possess, but in whom we belong to. The world may mock or look down on us, but if our heart beats for Christ, we carry a treasure no wealth can buy and no power can take away. 

Will you choose fleeting luxuries and adulations that fade, or will you embrace the eternal richness of a life centered on Jesus? — Marino J. Dasmarinas