Today's podcast for 'Reading Luke in Lent' looks at Luke, Chapter 6: 17-49.
Luke has referred to Jesus teaching a number of times. Now he gives us his teaching. There are three sections: the beatitudes and woes, the commands on love and mercy, the teaching on the two ways. The beatitudes (blessings) and the woes are given in parallel — blessed are the poor, woe to the rich. Like the Magnificat this shows the values of the world turned upside down.
St John Paul identified St Luke’s Gospel as the ‘gospel of mercy’ with the commands ‘Love your enemies’ and ‘Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful’ at the heart of the message. In the final section Jesus offers a series of images and parables to illustrate the choice we have to follow.
'Reading Luke in Lent' is a series of simple podcasts for the Lenten season offering a daily reading from St Luke - covering the Gospel from start to finish - from Ash Wednesday to the first week of Easter.
