Bible Study, Prayer, and Homily Resources
by Fr. Tommy Lane
At first sight, the beatitudes are startling and look crazy. How can you say that the poor are blessed, that those who are hungry are blessed, that those who are weeping are blessed and that those ostracized because of Jesus are blessed? But when we read different passages of Scripture in the same Mass, they shed light and meaning on one another. The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah (17:5-8) tells us that anyone who trusts in humans and seeks strength in flesh is cursed while one who trusts in the Lord and hopes in the Lord is blessed. The Psalm (Ps 1) is always a prayerful response to the first reading and tells us that the one who delights in the Lord is blessed and is like a fruitful tree while the wicked are scattered by the wind. The first reading and psalm, put simply, tell us that there are two ways to live: with God in one’s life or without God in one’s life and if you live with God in your life, you will be blessed. The first reading and Psalm are, in a sense, a summary of Jesus’ beatitudes (Luke 6:20-26) and a way to understand them.
The beatitudes tell us who is blessed in the eyes of Jesus and who is not blessed in the eyes of Jesus. You are probably more familiar with Matthew’s account of Jesus’ beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12) where Jesus delivers his beatitudes on the Mount (Matt 5-7) and all the beatitudes describe those who are blessed whereas in Luke Jesus gives his sermon on the plain, a piece of level ground, and the first four beatitudes describe those who are blessed followed by four statements of warning or woe about those who are not blessed. Today and the next two Sundays we listen to excerpts of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain in Luke (6:17-49). Again, I think the first reading and Psalm today help us understand the sense of the beatitudes: there are two ways to live, with God in one’s life or without God in one’s life and if you live with God in your life, you will be blessed.
“Blessed are you who are poor for the kingdom of God is yours.” Is it really a blessing to be poor? In Matthew the beatitude says the poor in spirit are blessed. Perhaps that helps us understand what we read in Luke. If being poor helps one to be poor in spirit, that is, to trust in God and rely on God, then it is blessing. In place of a fifth beatitude, Luke has a statement of woe or warning: woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation. If having abundance leads one away from God, then it is not a blessing. This country had time for God while it was poor and as soon it became rich, there was no time for God. “Blessed are you who are poor for the kingdom of God is yours. . . But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation.”
“Blessed are you who are now hungry for you will be satisfied.” Is it really a blessing to be hungry? In Matthew the beatitude says those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed. Perhaps that helps us understand what we read in Luke. If being hungry leads one to realize one’s need of God, then it has brought a blessing. In place of a sixth beatitude, Luke has a statement of woe or warning: “woe to you who are filled now for you will be hungry.” If having everything we need leads us to forget about God, a time will come, if not in this life, then at the moment we enter the next life, when we will realize our spiritual hunger. That is why prayer for the souls in purgatory is so important because they rely on our prayers to help them on their journey to heaven.
“Blessed are you who are now weeping for you will laugh.” Is it really a blessing to weep? Do we get any insight from Matthew this time? No. There we simply read that those who mourn are blessed. However, it is common to understand the mourning/weeping as sorrow for the state of the world rejecting God. If you are upset because you see that the world is not living up to its vocation to worship God, to honor God, to love God, if you are upset because you are horrified at the turn this country took away from God and you remember the words of Pope St. John Paul II who said there was more sin in the world during his time than ever before, then you are blessed because you have hopefully sensitivity to God in your life and love God. In place of a seventh beatitude, Luke has a statement of woe or warning: “woe to you who laugh now for you will grieve and weep.” If people are not giving God his due, a time will come when they will regret this. Thankfully God is full of mercy and compassion.
“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.” Because of the amount of rejection of God in the world, it is inevitable that you will be rejected in some way because of your faith, but you are blessed because you have faith in God. In place of an eighth beatitude, Luke has a statement of woe or warning: “woe to you when all speak well of you for their ancestors treated the false prophets this way.” The false prophets told the people what they wanted to hear and that is why they were popular, but they were not speaking on behalf of God.
There are two ways to live: with God in one’s life or without God in one’s life and if you live with God in your life, you will be blessed.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2025
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Sixth Sunday of Year C
Jesus’ description of happiness
Related Homilies: The Beatitudes in Matthew (4th Sunday Year A)
stories about about reversals dialogue on the Beatitudes