Archbishop of Sydney

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Jer 17:5-8; 1Cor 15:12,16-20; Lk 6:17,20-26

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
15 February 2004

We have today the more difficult version of the Beatitudes, the sermon on the plain, after Jesus has come down from the mountain.  This is the more difficult version because it includes a number of woes or curses, not of murderers or rapists or drug traffickers, but of the rich, the well-fed, those laughing and those of whom everyone speaks well.  The other version is found in chapter 5 of St. Matthew’s gospel, and the sermon is given on the mountain.  The thought is much better organised and there are no curses, although the second half of that chapter in Matthew is very challenging, including, as it does in this chapter of Luke a demand that we love our enemies.

Both versions of the Beatitudes, and especially today’s, are among the most difficult sayings of Our Lord to understand.  What do they mean today in the twenty-first century?  How would they have been understood by his listeners?  Is it a sin or a crime to be rich or well-fed, to enjoy a good laugh or to have a universally accepted good reputation?  When I look back at my notes from earlier occasions when I have preached on this topic, they are probably the most unsatisfactory of all my attempts to explain the gospel.

In the gospel reading we heard that the poor, those who weep, those hated for Christ’s name, those who are hungry, are blessed.  Sometime the word is translated as happy rather than blessed, but this is a profound mistake and a much less accurate translation of the Greek word makarios.  It is difficult enough, in the light of our faith to understand how the poor, the hungry, those in tears are blessed, but it strains our belief too far to claim all these, and the persecuted, are happy.  It is possible regularly for the poor to be happy; sometimes they are happier than those who have too much.  But those in tears are not happy, except in very rare circumstances, such as the Irish mother complaining that the only time she saw her son happy was when he was miserable.

Jesus’ message is not contained in the sermon on the plain or the sermon on the Mount.  It is an important part of the total message of Jesus framed provocatively to try and provoke his followers to listen to him.  This is different from hearing what he was saying and allowing it to wash over them (something which happens frequently to us, especially when we have heard the readings many times.  Our minds easily slide into neutral!)

Jesus is calling us to see our daily concerns, our difficulties and our achievements in a further and deeper light, to move through them to another dimension.  They are a starting point for the heart of his message, about the love which should dominate the life of every Christian and which will take us into the next life.

It is impossible to make sense of the beatitudes without a conviction that the one true God loves us, especially in our misfortunes, and will reward those who suffer disproportionately; too much sickness, misfortune, violence and also those who are persecuted for following Christ.

Both the other readings are useful for understanding the meaning of the beatitudes.  If Christ has not been raised from the dead, we will not rise either after death, and our sins have not been forgiven.  If there is no after-life, the beatitudes are like a halftime speech to a football team everyone knows is bound to lose.  As St. Paul wrote “If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people”.

The first reading from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah helps us understand what the woes, or curses, the ”alas for you” mean.  It is a warning to those who put all their trust in this life, the things of the flesh, and refuse both to trust in God and to be concerned with others, especially outsiders who are suffering.  These people are short-sighted, as well as selfish, tempted to believe that the things of the here and now are the sum total of reality.  We have to go beyond the surface of good public relations to the reality of God and love and forgiveness.

The beatitudes are worth our prayer and pondering.  They are a shot across our bows, a reminder not to become complacent, too pleased with ourselves, so that God and the unfortunate slip out of focus and perhaps off the screen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Sun, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.