Blessed Are You

Now during those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

"Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

"Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” Luke 6:12-26 

Blessed Are You

You are blessed on the east or the west coast

in the heat of the south or the chilly north

in the early morning dampness or the dry noonday

God has decided to visit and to dwell.

You are blessed as you the wind whips you face

fishing in frigid waters extra toughs filled with water

facing the rising seas and the hidden coastline

the Holy One stands along side of you.

And when the fields are ripe with corn

and the heat is oppressing and bugs relentless

when only the poor and foolish are out working

divine love surrounds your every labor.

And you in the kitchens and nurseries tending

the life of the dependent infants and aged as well

who clean clothes and the floors while everyone sleeps

you are blessed by the tender touch of God incarnate.

And you child who has never been welcomed

always suspect and never fitting in

your language and traditions peculiar and rejected

the loving Creator sits next to you as the tears flow.

And grandmother bent from years of toil

the stories you tell seem ancient and confusing

the young ones turned away to little screens

God's love sings with you those old melodies of love.