"Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied...
...But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." (Luke 6: 21, 24).
Wednesday 9th September 2020, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Peter Claver of the Society of Jesus. (1580 - 1654). Spanish. Priest, Religious and Missionary. St Peter Claver served for over 40 years African slaves dumped at the South American seaport of Cartagena now Colombia. During 40 years, he fed the slaves, cared for the sick and dying. He preached the Good News to them and baptized over 300,000.
Peter Claver and the slaves he served watched the powerful slave dealers and the Spanish bureaucratic officials eat, drink and dance while they were hungry. Jesus has some harsh words for them in today's Gospel:
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep." (Luke 6: 24 - 25).
Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes and in the Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus that the selfish rich have received their compensation here on earth. They "gained the whole world" for perhaps 50, 70, 90 or 100 years at most and lost eternity.
St Peter Claver, SJ is called the "Slave of slaves." God gave him great love and patience for the suffering slaves. Peter took many of them with him to heaven. Today we have the opportunity to be different from the the slave dealers and Spanish officials by loving our neighbors in deed and in truth.
Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com
I think it will be more better if the date at the top o each post carries the date of the date of the feast, that is the current date
ReplyDeleteThe Blog is published the night before and the system stamps it the date it is published. We can't change that. You have a good point though. We hope readers can understand.
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