Memory of the Poor
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 5,1-12
Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was seated his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them: How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance. Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 'Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The liturgy of the Church, from today, introduces us into the continued reading of the Gospel of Matthew. And it begins with the "beatitudes" that open the well-known Sermon on the Mount. Jesus wants to show the crowds the way to beatitude, to happiness. Already the psalms had accustomed the believers of Israel to the true meaning of beatitude: "Blessed are those who have put their trust in the Lord," "blessed are those who care for the weak," "blessed are those who trust in you." Jesus states that blessed are the men and women who are poor in spirit, that is, the humble (those who put their trust in God and not in riches). And blessed also are the merciful, the afflicted, the meek, those hungry for righteousness, the pure in heart, those persecuted for righteousness' sake, and also those who are insulted and persecuted because of his name. Even to us today they may seem distant. Jesus wants true, full, lasting happiness for us. What we normally care about is to live a little better, to be just a little quieter. Some speak of a world of "sad passions." Precisely because of this extraneousness to the culture of the majority, this page of the Beatitudes is a true Gospel, true "good news." They tear us away from an increasingly trivial life and push us towards an existence full of meaning, a joy that is much deeper than we can imagine. They are not too lofty for us, as they were not for that crowd that first heard them. The Beatitudes have a human face: the face of Jesus. he is the poor man, the meek man, the hungry for justice, the passionate and merciful man, the man persecuted and put to death. Let us look at him and follow him; we too will be blessed.