A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to 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: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Gospel of Luke, may sound familiar to some of you—it is read every year, on the Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time. Today’s Gospel is known as the Sermon on the Plain—not to be confused with Matthew’s Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount – The Beatitudes. Today’s Sermon on the Plain, contains a specific version of The Beatitudes. But the Beatitudes are the individual blessings, that open a much larger sermon delivered by Jesus.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus turns society’s expectations, completely upside down. He doesn’t just offer comforting words to the poor, the hungry, and the weeping; He makes a radical declaration. He promises them the Kingdom of God, while issuing a stark warning—a series of “woes”—to the rich, the self-sufficient, and the comfortable. Jesus demands a love that upsets comfort, to bring justice to the marginalized.
No one understood this radical call to action, better than Saint Peter Claver. In the 17th century, the port city of Cartagena, Colombia, was a horrific hub, of the transatlantic slave trade. While much of society chose comfort, wealth, and willful blindness—the very “woes” Jesus warned against—Peter Claver, chose the blessings of the poor.
He did not wait for the issues to fix themselves. When the slave ships docked, packed with broken, terrified, and dying human beings, Peter Claver went down into the filth of the cargo holds. He brought physical nourishment—water, medicine, and food—before speaking of spiritual freedom. He famously declared himself, “the slave of the slaves forever.” He looked at those whom society deemed subhuman and treated them, as the ultimate citizens of the Kingdom of God.
Today, the same Gospel and the same legacy of Saint Peter Claver, should challenge us. Christ’s “woes”, still apply to anyone, who ignores modern universal injustices. The modern “slave ships” may look different, appearing as human trafficking, the isolation of immigrants, the abandonment of the poor, or racial prejudice. As followers of Jesus Christ, and spreaders of the Good News, we cannot settle for a comfortable, passive faith, that remains safely, inside church walls.
Action for the day: Brothers and sisters, to live the message of today’s Gospel, means stepping out of our comfort zones, and into the cargo holds of modern suffering. Therefore, look in the deepest part of your heart, and ask the Holy Spirit, to help you see how or where, you are called, to follow Saint Peter Claver’s example, ensuring that the poor, the hungry, and the broken, do not just hear about the Kingdom of God, but experience it, through active, courageous love.
Audio Reflection:
