Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 6: 20-26
Happiness in Christ’s way, not the world’s

The Beatitudes are not gentle words meant to soothe; they are like flashes of lightning, breaking into our lives with power and urgency. Both in Matthew and Luke, Jesus begins His great sermon with these startling proclamations: “Blessed are the poor… Woe to the rich.” What a shock! How upside down this sounds compared to the world’s way of thinking.

The Gospel confronts us with a choice: Do we want happiness according to the world, or according to Christ? The world says, “Blessed are the strong, the wealthy, the comfortable.” But Jesus proclaims, “Blessed are you who hunger now, who weep now, who are persecuted for my sake.” This is not mere poetry—it is a revolution of the heart. It is a call to live differently.

Jesus is clear: if we give our whole energy to chasing wealth, status, and pleasure, we may succeed—but that is all we will ever have. “You have had it,” He warns. Nothing remains for eternity. But if we set our hearts on Him—on fidelity, on mercy, on truth—we may face struggle, we may be misunderstood, but we will have joy that no one can take away.

The saints understood this. They often lived poor in the world’s eyes, but rich in faith, free in spirit, radiant in joy. As St. Paul reminds us, “This slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:17).

The Beatitudes ask us: What kind of happiness do we seek? The world’s passing comfort—or the eternal joy of Christ? To follow Jesus is to risk trouble, but it is also to find the deep peace that only He can give. Blessed indeed are those who choose His way.

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025