These words seem deliberately to contradict ordinary human ideas. Why are the poor and hungry, the weeping and rejected, suddenly blessed, while woe is pronounced upon the rich, the full, and those who laugh? One might think that Christ is proclaiming a revolution that will turn the world upside down! The Kingdom of God that He brings to earth really is radically different from the order of the world familiar to us. Relationships within it are founded on the Father's mercy, not on the struggle for survival. Even as believers, we often forget that entirely different laws prevail in this Kingdom. We call happiness what Christ calls woe, and conversely regard His blessings as misfortune. How greatly we must change to become true citizens of this Kingdom!

In their conversations with Jesus, the Pharisees often challenge Him over how He treats various prescriptions and traditions. The Sabbath occupies a central place in these disputes. What may and may not be done on the Sabbath?

In the mind of a Jew of that time, answering this question required serious knowledge of the Law and the commentaries of authoritative teachers. But the way Jesus poses the question turns a theological discussion into a direct challenge to the conscience, which is not limited to teachers and theologians: what may be done on the Sabbath—good or evil? Save life or destroy it? The Gospel teaches us to frame the questions that concern us in precisely this way, for conscience is often the best adviser, even in theology.

In today's reading the apostle Paul answers everyone who, out of false modesty, claims that in the Church he is a small and out-of-place person, worthy of nothing, and in general just happened to be passing by. He says: "You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household." Nothing less: fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household! Is it pleasing to Him, then, that we refuse such an honor?

But this can be looked at from another side as well: it is an enormous responsibility to remember that our citizenship is in the Kingdom of Heaven... And refusal of "such an undeserved privilege" in fact means refusal of responsibility. Paul calls us to accept this responsibility with gratitude and humility.