The Gospel for Wednesday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time is taken from Luke 6:26. Raising his eyes toward his disciples, Jesus said, blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. 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. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day.

Behold, your reward will be great in heaven, for their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But 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. At the time that Jesus spoke these words, there was an understanding that people who followed the law would be prosperous in the world.

The rich were a sign that God favored them over others. Jesus is acknowledging the mystery of emptiness, poverty, being without as the catalyst it truly is to reaching out for something to take care of us and help us. Poverty is really, in a way, a stepping stone spiritually into the richness and the fullness of God living within us. Please reflect on the meaning of these scriptures. And after the music, I will close with a prayer. Foreign closing prayer.

Father, bless us with the patience that we need to go through the dark and difficult things that you place in our life so that we can become more open, more receptive, more patient with others. Let us see this gift and let us engage in it. And we ask this in Jesus name, amen.