Bring heaven to earth

Reading: Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. Luke 6:23.
 
Good morning, happy Wednesday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
In today’s Gospel (Luke 6:20-26), Jesus tells his disciples: “Blessed are you who are poor. Blessed are you who are hungry. Blessed are you who are weeping. Blessed are you when people hate you, insult you, and denounce your name as evil.” Now honestly ask yourself: do you consider yourself blessed when you experience poverty, hunger, or other problems of living? Do you feel blessed if someone hates or dislikes you?
 
I doubt that any of us feel blessed when we have pain, sorrow, loss, and confusion in our lives. It is more likely we may feel cursed or betrayed. We may be sad, afraid, or angry with God. Yet Jesus tells us to rejoice and to leap for joy on that day. He reassures us that we will have a great reward in heaven. However, this assurance most likely will not ease the pain, the sorrow, or the suffering we may be experiencing.
 
Jesus then continues with the “woes.” He says: “Woe to the rich, you have received your consolation. Woe to you whose bellies are filled, you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now; you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when people speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the prophets in this way.”
 
It is easy to take our blessings for granted until the difficult times come and we begin to experience the woes of life. Now take a moment and ask yourself: Do you consider it a blessing when you are hungry for love, joy, hope, companionship, spiritual nourishment, or (fill in the blank)? Or at these times do you feel abandoned by God or angry with Jesus? During painful and difficult times, it is almost natural to lose sight of the many ways we also are blessed. If we are struggling and in pain, our focus immediately shifts to the difficult or the frightening aspects of life.
 
Yet, even when we experience “woes”, we are blessed. We may have a spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, our Church community, a religious community, as well as other people who love and care for us. Hopefully, we have a roof over our heads and enough food on the table. And even during our times of woe, God is right beside us. However, we may not always feel God’s presence. And hopefully, during the woeful times, we have the family and friends who love and care for us.
 
Four contrasts are referred to in these few scripture verses – poverty/riches; hunger/fullness; sorrow/laughter; and defamation/commendation. Jesus upturns the values we would normally consider desirable. He asks us to realize that we are not living simply to be happy in this life but we should ask ourselves the deeper value of our ways of life in the light of what we can bring with us by building a healthy relationship with him and those around us.
I wonder if Jesus is trying to teach us that we have to work for a better equitable distribution of joys, conformity, and resources. I believe this is part of our radical discipleship. Bring heaven to earth.
 
Blessings,
 
Luis+