Variety: Luke 6v20

In the Solentiname Islands of Nicaragua, Ernesto Cardenal reflected on the Gospels each week with communities of campesinos  living in poverty. Commenting on the Beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 6:20), Cardenal shares their conversation: 

ÓSCAR’S MOTHER: “It seems to me that the kingdom is love. Love in this life. And heaven is for those who love here, because God is love.” 

FELIPE: “Jesus said that because he knows the poor are able to put love into practice better, right?—which is the kingdom that God brings us. Then he blesses the poor because they’re the ones who are going to make this new society of love.”… 

ÓSCAR: “Ernesto, I also think that the poor person can practice love more sincerely, without being afraid, and fight for it, without being afraid of the word of God. But the rich person can’t because it doesn’t suit him. Even though he may know what’s good, he doesn’t practice it, because he is always ready to [exploit] people…. God sees the poor person’s sincerity and promises him the kingdom of God.”… 

ALEJANDRO: “What we see here is that there are two things. One is the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of love, of equality, where we must all be like brothers and sisters; and the other thing is the system we have, which isn’t brand new, it’s centuries old, the system of rich and poor, where business is business. And so we see that they’re very different things. Then we have to change society so that the kingdom of God can exist. And we’re sure that the kingdom will have to be established with the poor, right?” 

PANCHO: “With everybody that shares the love, because if there are rich people that share the love, they too can enter the kingdom.” 

MARIÍTA: “But a rich person that shares love has to share his goods too. That’s how he shows that he shares love. Because if he says he has love and doesn’t share his goods, how are we going to believe him?”