Both St. Matthew and St. Luke report Jesus pronouncing “beatitudes,” a series of blessings for his followers. The differences are instructive. St. Luke reports Jesus as saying, “Blessed are you who are poor.” Notice the form is direct address, not the more impersonal “Blessed are the poor.” And in St. Matthew the beatitudes are somewhat spiritualized (“poor in spirit,” “hunger and thirst for justice”) while in St. Luke they are concrete (“you who are poor,” “you who hunger.”) A third difference, in the Luke’s gospel Jesus appends a series of “woes” after pronouncing the blessing. “Woe to you who are rich.” For our prayer to reflect the third gospel, faith must be personal, concrete, and confronting the consequences of following the teaching of Jesus.
