ESV Luke 6:20-24 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Lectio Divina, Magnificat, February 2025, p. 247 "Everyone desires to be happy," teaches Saint Thomas Aquinas. Here, Jesus lays out his program for happiness, as indicated by the recurring word makarios, which is Greek for "blessed" or simply "happy." (Strong's Greek: 3107. μακάριος (makarios) -- Blessed, happy, fortunate) Yet the picture Jesus paints appears rather grotesque at first glance. He endorses everything our instincts tell us to avoid at all costs: poverty, hunger, tears, rejection. Why?
Is it because money, wealth, merriment, and esteem are bad in themselves? No: on the contrary, these are good things. At the same time, there is a danger that we might become so distracted by the gifts that we forget the Giver. Saint Gregory the Great warns that if the prosperous are not careful, they may "love their pilgrimage more than their homeland and . . . transform the supplies for their journey into an impediment for their arrival." Sufferings borne well, on the other hand, can increase our desire for heaven and help prepare us to receive the joy that is to come.
Saint John Paul II points out that the Beatitudes "are a sort of self-portrait of Christ and for this very reason are invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ." In other words, Jesus practices what he preaches--or better, he preaches what he practices. . .
As Christians, we say that we want to follow Jesus and to be like him, but are we ready to embrace the difficult truth that imitating Christ means being acquainted with suffering?
If you are a Christian (or even a non-Christian) who wants to poke the hornet's nest of differences between the Luke version and Matthew's, there are many sermons and writings on that, although not the topic of Lectio Divina for this Sunday, The Beatitudes in Luke and Matthew | Psephizo
Catholic answers suggests two possibilities: Why Are There Eight Beatitudes in Matthew and Only Four in Luke? - Catholic Answers, Inc
St. Augustine provides two possible explanations for these differences. My preference is the second.
Jesus gave 2 sermons. My favorite verse is Psalm 37:3, and it essentially says the same thing in 7 words.
"One possibility is that although only one sermon was delivered, its location was described under different aspects by Matthew and St. Luke. For it is possible that the place was a level spot along the slope of the mountain, which at once was part of the mountain and might also be described as a plain in relation to the peak of the same mountain. According to this account, the sermon as related by Matthew included a number of our Lord’s words that Luke omitted and omitted some of the words that Luke included.
A second solution is that Jesus actually gave two sermons that were closely related: for his purpose was to promulgate the New Law, yet not all were prepared to receive that law in its most perfect form. Therefore, since the first promulgation was given only to his close disciples on the mountaintop, it was lengthier and more proportioned to the spiritual-minded; and since the second was given to the multitudes on the plain, it was shorter and more proportioned to the carnal-minded."