Today many people, including Christians, spend more time nourishing their hope to win the lottery rather than to win heaven, and Jesus says that these people are “woeful” because they think that the monopoly money and temporary houses on Park Avenue are more valuable that the Father’s House and treasure. Material wealth is what those who live for the present age often believe will bring them happiness, but God’s kingdom is the hope and the treasure of those who are living knowing that time is running out and eternity is about to begin. Jesus says that the “rich” are to be pitied because they have already received their consolation in their money and possessions, whereas the poor are blessed because they are therefore able to seek with hope God and his kingdom.
Free pascal lazarus full#
Rather than the eight beatitudes he proclaimed on the mountain, today in the plain he focuses on four and contrasts them clearly to four “woes.” But his essential teaching remains the same: that the real path to happiness, the way to have life to the full forever, is not just different, but in fact opposite, than what those infected by spiritual worldliness often presume. The fact that there are differences between this version and what Jesus says in Matthew 5-7 in the Sermon on the Mount is a clear sign that Jesus returned to his central messages often and developed different nuances. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain.
There’s no greater illustration of the choice we’re called to make for what’s everlasting instead of what’s evanescent than what Jesus mentions in the Gospel today.But he’s not just indicating the path: he’s also urging us to choose to live by that path. Paul is continuing to teach both us and the Christians in Corinth the path to true wisdom, which is also the path by which we’ll be considered foolish by those who are worldly. The biggest trick in the devil’s arsenal, if he can’t convince us that he doesn’t exist, is to persuade us that there’s plenty of time “later” for us to get our act together, that there’s no urgency for us to make big choices for God now. Paul was predicting the imminent end of the world, but rather that he was describing the urgency of reordering our priorities for the eternal rather than the ephemeral. … The world in its present form is passing away.” The world is in the midst of a “present distress.” These words don’t mean that St. Paul tells the Corinthians today and us, “I tell you brothers, the time is running out. The following points were attempted in the homily: To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
Retreats for Priests, Deacons, and SeminariansĬolumbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, New York.
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