GOD Blesses The Poor But Not Poverty

"Then, looking at HIS disciples, JESUS said,

'Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of GOD is yours.

Fortunate are you, who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

Fortunate are you, who weep now, for you will laugh.

Fortunate are you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.  Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.

But alas for you, who have wealth, for you have been comforted now.

Alas for you, who are full, for you will go hungry.

Alas for you, who laugh now for you will mourn and weep.

Alas for you, when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.'" - Luke 6:20-26 

(Matthew adapts the beatitudes for the members of the church of his time.  Luke, on the other hand, puts the beatitudes here just as JESUS proclaimed them to the people of Galilee.  In the words of JESUS, the beatitudes were a call and a hope addressed to the forgotten of the world, beginning with the poor among HIS people, heirs of GOD's promise to the prophets.

The beatitudes do not speak of the conversion of the rich, nor do they say that the poor are better, but they promise a reversal.  The kingdom signifies a new society: GOD blesses the poor but not poverty.

When people speak well of you [see 1 Corinthians 4:8].  The contrast between groups of people who are persecuted and those who are well thought of can exist within the Church itself.  Many problems can remain unsolved and even mission itself be blocked because of influential groups and persons who want for nothing and know how to obtain official benedictions.  JESUS recalls the example of the prophets.)

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