Reflection for Wednesday September 7, Twenty-third 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:

What is the main requirement to get closer to Jesus? It’s to suffer for the sake of the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in this world. Without suffering for Christ there would be no intimacy with Jesus.

 Many of us are so afraid to suffer for Christ sake because we are selfish. We only think of ourselves and not think of others, we only are concerned of what we can get from this present world and forget about what is after this world.

In the process of our desire to get closer to Jesus many will hate us even distance themselves from us. But what the heck! We have to understand that we don’t live in this world to be in this world. We live in this world now so that we can go to heaven someday.

Our motivation in existing in this world should always be heaven to be with Jesus. Otherwise if our motivation is centered in this world we would never have peace. We may have all the things of this world yet we still will have no peace for there’s an absence of Christ in our lives.  

Therefore, let us not be afraid of the challenges that we might face for the sake of advancement the kingdom of God in this world. For this is the reason of our existence in this world. He made us to exist in this world so that we could bring others closer to Jesus.

Have you already suffered for Christ and have you already brought somebody closer to Jesus? If your answer is yes, you are surely blessed! – Marino J. Dasmarinas