The Gospel reading for the last
Sunday in January was Matthew 5:1-12, the passage which is generally referred
to as The Beatitudes. The title comes
from the Latin word “beatus/-a” which means “blessed” and reflects the first
word of nine of the twelve verses, sayings of Jesus which begin “Blessed are
…” It’s a beautiful and familiar section
of scripture, and our worship leaders built the whole service on it. The minister preached on it. The choir sang a setting of it from the
Russian Orthodox tradition. The hymns
echoed the thought. It was a good
reminder that in the midst of the chaos of the present time, we are all blessed
children of God.
In the days following the service, I
continued to ponder the Gospel lesson, and in doing so, recalled that there is
another version of The Beatitudes recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Unlike the very familiar reading from
Matthew, we rarely, if ever, encounter the Lukan version in worship. Comparing the two is an interesting exercise.
