20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
St. John Chrysostom was born around AD 347 in Antioch and died in 407. Chrysostom was not his last name but rather a nickname he was given. It means golden mouthed” because of the excellence of his preaching. A doctor of the church, he is also one of its most prolific writers and had a huge influence on the current catechism of the Catholic Church. Named bishop of Constantinople in 397, he refused to host lavish gatherings, and instead built hospitals and made great efforts to reform the clergy which had become lax in the city. His actions earned him a large number of enemies among the clergy and the city’s elite, most notably the wife of the emperor. In 403, they succeeded in having him banished but unrest in the city caused him to be recalled soon after. His denunciations of the empress’s excessive spending got him exiled again and, despite riots in Constantinople and the pope’s support, this time he was not allowed back. He died soon after and was immediately revered as a saint.
Fittingly, for his feast this year, the gospel is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. Matthew’s are more famous and, as you may have noticed, somewhat different. For one thing, Luke has four beatitudes and four woes while Matthew has eight beatitudes and no woes. More importantly, Matthew stresses the spiritual dimension but Luke remains firmly in the physical world: while Matthew writes of “the poor in spirit”, Luke refers simply to the “poor” and while Matthew talks of those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness”, Luke speaks of those who are “hungry now”.
Luke’s first three beatitudes concern those who are poor, hungry and weeping; in other words, people who are completely destitute. In society at that time (as in ours, sadly), economic status brought honor and respect while the poor were marginalized and ignored. Jesus tells the latter that in God’s kingdom, this will no longer be the case, for they have been specially chosen by God who will put them at the center. Furthermore, each beatitude has a matching woe aimed at the rich and warning them that their situation will be reversed. Luke’s beatitudes seem to hold out no hope for the wealthy, but later we will learn that, while it will be difficult, even the rich can be disciples. The final beatitude refers to Jesus’ followers, who will suffer for him. Today’s gospel is particularly apt for the feast of St. John Chrysostom, a man who worked to help the poor and was not afraid of speaking truth to power – whatever it cost him.
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