Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 439
Reading 1
1 Corinthians 7:25-31
Brothers and sisters:
In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord,
but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
So this is what I think best because of the present distress:
that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation.
Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife.
If you marry, however, you do not sin,
nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries;
but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life,
and I would like to spare you that.
I tell you, brothers, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17
R. (11) Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father’s house.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord, and you must worship him.
R. Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters;
her raiment is threaded with spun gold.
In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king;
behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you.
R. Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
The place of your fathers your sons shall have;
you shall make them princes through all the land.
R. Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.
Alleluia
Luke 6:23ab
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and leap for joy!
Your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.”
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
A Double Blessing
“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.” Luke 6:24–26
Is it dangerous to be rich, to be filled, to laugh, and to have all speak well of you? According to Jesus, it appears so. Why would Jesus warn against these things? And before that, why would He pronounce it blessed to be poor, hungry, weeping and insulted? Essentially, Jesus was condemning four common sins—greed, gluttony, intemperance, and vainglory—and promoting their opposite virtues.
Poverty, in and of itself, is not sufficient for holiness. But in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus declares it blessed to be poor, literally. This goes further than Matthew’s Gospel which says it is blessed to be “poor in spirit.” To be poor in spirit is to be spiritually detached from the material things of this world so that you can be fully open to the riches of God. One common tendency among those with material wealth is to rationalize that even though they have many things, they are detached from them. Hopefully that is the case. However, in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, Jesus directly says, “Blessed are you who are poor” and “woe to you who are rich.” In this teaching, we discover a second blessing not found in Matthew’s version. In addition to spiritual detachment (poverty of spirit) being identified as a blessing, literal poverty is proclaimed as the easier way to achieve this spiritual detachment. Material wealth, though not a sin in and of itself, brings with it many temptations toward attachment, self-reliance, and self-indulgence. Thus, spiritually speaking, it is easier to be detached when one is poor, rather than when one is rich. This is a hard truth for both the poor and the rich to accept. The poor often want to be rich, thinking that if they were, they would share their wealth with others and remain detached. The rich often enjoy being rich and believe that they are more spiritually detached than they actually are.
Being “hungry” is also identified as a blessed state, whereas being “filled” is a dangerous state. When you are literally hungry, either from fasting or from lack of an abundance of food, it is easier to turn your hunger and thirst toward God so as to be filled by Him and to more easily trust in His providence. An abundance of food, especially fine food, tempts you with a gluttonous satisfaction that makes it difficult to hunger and thirst for God and His holy will in a complete way. Therefore, if you refrain from indulgence and experience hunger, you will be blessed to be free from gluttony and even the temptation toward it.
“Laughing” and “weeping” in this case are not referring to joy and despair. Rather, they are referring to those who are always seeking fun and an indulgent life. Many people live for fun, entertainment, and momentary pleasures. Weeping refers to those who have discovered that the fleeting pleasures of the world can never satisfy. Constant entertainment, therefore, brings with it a real temptation, whereas the loss of that form of fleeting pleasure helps eliminate that temptation.
Finally, Jesus declares it blessed to be hated, excluded, insulted, and denounced as evil on account of Him rather than being spoken well of by all. In this case, Jesus is referring to the praise that comes from things that mean nothing from an eternal perspective. When all speak well of us, praising qualities and accomplishments that are not true Christian virtues, we will be tempted to rely upon that praise for our satisfaction. But this form of satisfaction is nothing other than vainglory and never truly satisfies in the end. However, when one sees and praises the virtues of God within us, God is praised first and foremost, and we are blessed to share in God’s glory.
Reflect, today, upon whether you prefer to be rich, to indulge in the best of foods, to be constantly entertained and to be the envy of others, or whether you see the temptations this type of life brings. Reflect also upon the concrete spiritual blessings that come to those who are literally poor, hungry, temperate and humble. This is a very demanding teaching from Jesus. If it doesn’t sit well with you, then know that it is a sign that you still have various attachments in life. Reflect, especially, upon the beatitude that is most difficult to embrace, and make that beatitude the source of reflection and prayer. Doing so with honesty and openness will result in you being among those who are truly blessed in the eyes of God.
Reflection 2
One Bread, One Body
whom do i want to please?
“Woe to you when all speak well of you.” —Luke 6:26
Most of us want people to speak well of us. However, we cannot serve both God and men (see Mt 6:24). We must choose between pleasing God and pleasing people. The praise of human beings is fickle. Jesus understood this well (Jn 2:24-25). In the span of five days, the crowds in Jerusalem changed from acclaiming Him with joyful shouts of “Hosanna” (Mk 11:9) to furious cries of “Crucify Him!” (Mk 15:13)
St. Paul understood this dynamic also. He chose to write a necessary but difficult message to his young church in Galatia. Paul wrote them: “Whom would you say I am trying to please at this point – men or God? Is this how I seek to ingratiate myself with men? If I were trying to win man’s approval, I would surely not be serving Christ!” (Gal 1:10) Paul also wrote to the church in Thessalonica: “As men entrusted with the good tidings, we speak like those who strive to please God, ‘the Tester of our hearts,’ rather than men. We were not guilty, as you well know, of flattering words or greed under any pretext, as God is our witness! Neither did we seek glory from men” (1 Thes 2:4-6).
Unlike St. Paul, the Pharisees “preferred the praise of men to the glory of God” (Jn 12:43). They rejected Jesus and thus exemplified Jesus’ comment, “Woe to you when all speak well of you” (Lk 6:26). Therefore, rejoice when people speak ill of you, especially for your belief in the Lord (see Lk 6:22, 26). Let us live no longer for ourselves, but for Jesus (2 Cor 5:15).
Prayer: Father, may I be full of joy to be “judged worthy of ill treatment for the sake of the Name” of Jesus (Acts 5:41).
Promise: “Blest are you poor; the reign of God is yours.” —Lk 6:20
Praise: Stephen not only fasts on Fridays, but for fifteen years has spent an hour in Eucharistic adoration every Friday.
Reflection 3
By Fr. Martin Hogan
The version of the beatitudes we find in Luke’s gospel are very disconcerting in many ways. Jesus declares blessed those who are poor, hungry and weep. He declares unfortunate those who are rich, who are full and who laugh. This is not the way we normally see things. Indeed, it is the very opposite to how most people in most cultures would think. There is something shocking in these beatitudes and woes. Jesus is not saying that poverty is a blessing in itself. Rather he is declaring that the poor are blessed because God will work to transform their situation. It is the situation of being vulnerable that creates a space for God to work. It is often our need that opens us up to God; it is those who are afflicted in any way who are most likely to experience God’s nearness and God’s help. In contrast, those who appear to have everything often have no sense of their need for God and are not open to God’s transforming presence. The gospel reading assures us that our pain, our suffering, our affliction can be a blessing because it can open us up to experience the generosity of God towards us.
Prayers
My blessed Lord, You were poor, hungry, temperate and humble to the perfect degree. For these reasons, You were filled with perfect virtue and were satisfied to the greatest degree. Please open my eyes to the deceptions of this world so that I can live with You a life of true holiness, experiencing the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You!
Lord Jesus, increase my hunger for you and show me the way that leads to everlasting happiness and peace. May I desire you above all else and find perfect joy in doing your will.
Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
Reflection 254: Divinization
Our calling in life can be described as a call to divinization. What does this mean? It means that God came to Earth and took on our human nature so as to draw us into His very life. We are, in a sense, called to become God. This idea of “divinization” was common among the early Church fathers such as Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Athanasius, Clement of Alexandria and St. Augustine. It’s not that we are to become God in the sense that our nature becomes divine, this would be a heresy. Rather, we are called to become God in the sense that we are to share in His divine life, becoming one with Him in perfect unity. It would be as if God were an Ocean and we were a drop of water plunged into that Ocean. Though the specific particles of the drop of water representing us remain that one drop, it is absorbed by the waters of the Ocean representing God. Our union with Him must become so complete that God lives in us as we live in God (See Diary #1289).
Reflect upon your calling to become divinized. This concept goes to the heart of our Christian vocation in that it expresses the powerful unity we are called to have with our merciful God. He wants you to share in His life and to become one with Him in every way. Though this may be hard to comprehend, you must accept it as your calling in faith. Reflect upon this concept today and tell our Lord that you give yourself to Him so as to become one with Him and to share in His very life.
Lord, please come to me and divinize me in accord with Your perfect Will and abundant Mercy. I thank You for calling me to such a glorious and high calling in life and I accept this invitation from You. My life is Yours, dear Lord, transform me, consume me and do with me as You will. Jesus, I trust in You.
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