02/15/2004: "Thoughts on today's Gospel reading"

Today's Gospel reading (Lk 6:17, 20-26) was very moving to me. The beatitudes always strike me just because they call us to something so radically different than what society calls us to. How often do we cherish the "blessed"'s of society over the "Blessed"'s of our Lord? I think it is a continual challenge to each of us to put the Lord first.

Additionally, a thought came to my mind. In Luke's Gospel the Beatitudes come from the "Sermon on the Plain" which we frequently think of as the "Sermon on the Mount" because that's the way the Beatitudes are delivered in Matthew's Gospel. Many ask the question, which is right? My thought is, why can't it be both?

Not that I dare ever compare Christ to a politician lest I be struck by lightning, but do people who give speaches ever repeat themselves? Of course. In fact, people who have a message to deliver, repeat themselves more than most people do. They tell the world over and over and over and over and over, what their message is. I suspect that Jesus probably gave the "Sermon on the Mount" many times. Sometimes it was on the mountain top, sometimes in the plain, sometimes by the river, sometimes by the sea, sometimes in the temple, sometimes in a disciples home, sometimes through the Holy Spirit, but all the time to be received in all of our hearts.

May God's peace be with us all.