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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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One of the most popular social media platforms today is “X,” formerly known as Twitter.
Twitter is used by 450 million people around the world. It allows you to share whatever is on your mind, usually in a single sentence.
Here are two recent tweets that went viral:
Congratulations to the astronauts who left earth today. Good choice.
Humans are simply not built for email.
We could write a book about what each of these two tweets means. But this is the genius of a pithy Tweet – it distills our thoughts or experiences into a single sentence.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus preaches his first sermon, often called, “The Sermon on the Mount,” boiling God’s vision for humanity down into a handful of simple Tweets.
Consider two of them, and what each might mean for us:
“Blessed are the pure of heart.”
To be “pure of heart” means to be, “single-minded; without division.” By extension, blessed are those who live moral lives; who pray to resist temptation; who strive to grow in virtue; who keep God at the very center of their lives.
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Secondly, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
To be, “poor in spirit,” means, “to know your need for God.”
I think of a young father who’s poor in spirit. Every morning, he wakes up 20 minutes before there’s a stir in the house in order to pray for his wife and three children. He knows his need for God.
Or a woman who was married for 50 years. Her husband passed away suddenly at 6 am on a Sunday morning. She came to the noon Mass that day to thank the Lord for their 50 years of marriage and to pray for her husband’s soul. She knew her need for God.
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Much more could be said about each of Jesus’ Tweets. But perhaps we can choose just one of these two to meditate upon today: “Blessed are the pure of heart.”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Which of these speaks to me and why?
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Image credits: (1) Forbes (2) Psephizo (3) Dreamstime.com