LIVE IT TODAY: Wednesday, September 10, 2025
I bless you not in comfort, but in sacrifice, for your reward is great in heaven.
LIVE IT TODAY: Wednesday, September 10, 2025
A GREAT WAY TO BEGIN TODAY!
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GOD'S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I bless you not in comfort, but in sacrifice, for your reward is great in heaven.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | Luke 6:20-26
Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
"Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets
in the same way.
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.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
The Great Reversal
The Beatitudes in Luke cut sharply. Unlike Matthew’s “poor in spirit,” Luke records Jesus saying simply, “Blessed are you who are poor.” In the first-century world, poverty, hunger, and grief were not romantic—they were crushing realities. And yet Jesus proclaims them as signs of blessing, not because suffering is good in itself, but because God promises to overturn the world’s order. The Kingdom belongs not to the powerful but to the poor, not to the self-satisfied but to the hungry, not to the comfortable but to the rejected.
Jesus pairs every blessing with a woe, creating a rhythm of reversal. The Greek word for “woe” (ouai) carries a tone of grief, not just warning. Jesus is not gloating over the downfall of the rich—He laments it. Why? Because wealth, pleasure, and approval can lull the heart into complacency. They mask our need for God and keep us from hungering for His Kingdom.
The world measures success by what you have, how much fun you’re having, and how many people like you. Jesus flips all of that upside down. Real life is measured by fidelity to Him, even when it costs us friends, reputation, comfort, or security. That’s why He tells us to rejoice when we’re rejected for His sake: rejection becomes proof that we belong to the company of prophets.
Parents, this is where the Gospel gets very concrete. Do our homes teach children to chase comfort, or to chase Christ? Do we show them that hunger can open us to God, that tears can teach compassion, that rejection for the Gospel is a badge of honor? Or do we unintentionally catechize them into comfort, filling them with screens, snacks, and the need to be liked?
Jesus is inviting us to reframe family life around eternal reward, not temporary ease. This means embracing small sacrifices at home with joy. It means encouraging our children to be faithful even if it costs them popularity. And it means praying over them by name, asking God to plant in them a hunger for righteousness that no comfort can dull.
The Beatitudes are not distant ideals. They are a roadmap for discipleship—right in our kitchens, schools, and neighborhoods. The question is not whether our children will hunger, weep, or be excluded, but whether they will find in those moments the presence of Christ and the promise of heaven.
“The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection” (CCC 1717).
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Blessed Poverty: Where am I tempted to cling to comfort instead of trusting God in my poverty?
Family Witness: How can I help my children see sacrifice and rejection for Christ not as loss, but as blessing?
True Hunger: What do I hunger for most, and how can I reorder my desires toward the Kingdom?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, each person share one way they can practice “kingdom hunger”—a small sacrifice that helps them grow closer to Christ.
Then pray over each person by name:
“Lord Jesus, bless [Name] with a hunger for You that nothing else can satisfy. Free them from the lies of the Enemy that promise comfort without You. Fill them with joy in sacrifice, courage in rejection, and hope in every trial, until they know the eternal reward of Your Kingdom.”
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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