DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Friday, March 1, 2019

Then Jesus looked up at His disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”

“But woe to you who are rich,for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.  Woe to you who are laughing now,for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” – Luke 6:20-26

Christ teaches His disciples a litany of contrasts.  The future will bring blessings to those who are struggling with the present circumstance; and the future will bring woes to those who are not struggling with the present circumstance.   The future, though it may seem bleak at the moment, will one day bring a revolutionary change in how society is stratified.  The poor will prove rich in ways the present rich cannot understand; the downtrodden will be liberated and find justice.

Indeed, the peaceable realm of fairness and mercy will eventually come to be, but at present, the disciples must endure the struggle.  And this unjust realm that mocks the fair mercy of God will one day crumble in ruins.

In this world, money, prestige, and power are the motivators of society, but in the world that is slowly merging, these motivators will give way to a yearning for peace, love, justice with mercy.  The ways of this world will be turned upside down and those who oppress will have a great fall, and all the kings horses and soldiers will not be able to put all the broken pieces of their world back together again.  But those who seek the prosperity of heavenly values and who seek to live in heavenly ways, they will inherit the new earth that is part and parcel with heaven.

So much of the injustice in the world is constructed by those in power who seek to sustain their power and to keep the powerless in their place below.

Loved Ones, my life is devoted to this Future Realm that God is in the process of bringing into this world and not to the Past Realm where the powerful reign over the powerless.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz