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“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your
consolation. 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.” Luke 6:24–26
Luke 6:20–49 offers us a shortened version of the Sermon on the
Mount found in Matthew’s Gospel. Luke’s version of this sermon
takes place on a plain, “a stretch of level ground.” The teachings
in the two Gospels are very similar, despite their difference in
length. Luke’s teaching on the Beatitudes adds the “woe to you’s”
quoted above, which are not found in Matthew’s version.
The early Church Father Saint Bede comments that Saint Luke’s
version of the “woes” are meant for those who are “uninstructed
hearers” because they “must first be brought by terrors to good
works.” He goes on to say that the first part of the Beatitudes,
the “blessings,” are meant for the “perfect” because they “need but
be invited by rewards” rather than fear of punishment. The fact
that Saint Luke includes a teaching for both the sinner and the
saint should lead us to the conclusion that we can benefit from
both approaches in our spiritual lives.
When your spiritual life is strong and you are consistently
avoiding serious sin, it might be more helpful to reflect regularly
upon the blessings found in the Beatitudes. This will have the
effect of drawing you into greater perfection as the desire for the
reward of holiness becomes the object of your hope.
When your spiritual life is weaker and you are regularly struggling
with more serious sin, it might be more helpful to reflect upon the
woes of the Beatitudes. This will have the effect of deterring you
from the cycle of sin you struggle with, on account of the fear of
the consequences of those sins.
In the end, the Beatitudes and their subsequent woes are meant to
point us interiorly to the desires of our hearts. We must become
more and more aware of what occupies our thinking and desires.
Ultimately, wealth or poverty, hunger or satisfaction, worldly
praise or persecution do not matter. What matters is that our
hearts are detached from the desires identified in this sermon so
that we more fully desire only God and His holy will, regardless of
the circumstances of life we find ourselves in.
Reflect, today, upon your own spiritual and moral life and first
consider whether you are blessed to be living a life that more
imitates the saints or whether you more often reflect the serious
struggles of the sinner. From there, try to choose which form of
teaching you need the most. Do you need to ponder the rewards of
seeking even greater beatitude in life so as to grow deeper in
holiness? Or do you need Jesus’ clear condemnations to help you
break free from the cycle of sin with which you are struggling?
Humbly identify that which is most helpful to you right now in your
spiritual life and allow this full sermon of Jesus to help you on
your journey to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Lord of holiness, I do desire to follow You and become truly
holy. Please free me from my sin so that I am able to avoid the
consequences of those sins. Please help me to also desire the
heights of holiness so that I will receive the great rewards that
You promised to the saints in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in
You.
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