September 10, 2026
Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 440
Reading 1
1
Corinthians 8:1b-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters:
Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.
If anyone supposes he knows something,
he does not yet know as he ought to know.
But if one loves God, one is known by him.
So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols:
we know that there is no idol in the world,
and that there is no God but one.
Indeed, even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth
(there are, to be sure, many “gods” and many “lords”),
yet for us there is one God, the Father,
from whom all things are and for whom we exist,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things are and through whom we exist.
But not all have this knowledge.
There are some who have been so used to idolatry up until now
that, when they eat meat sacrificed to idols,
their conscience, which is weak, is defiled.
Thus, through your knowledge, the weak person is brought to
destruction,
the brother for whom Christ died.
When you sin in this way against your brothers
and wound their consciences, weak as they are,
you are sinning against Christ.
Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin,
I will never eat meat again,
so that I may not cause my brother to sin.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 139:1b-3,
13-14ab, 23-24
R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Probe me, O God, and know my heart;
try me, and know my thoughts;
See if my way is crooked,
and lead me in the way of old.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Alleluia
1 John
4:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If we love one another,
God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Luke
6:27-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091026.cfm
Commentary on 1
Corinthians 8:1-7,11-13
Paul now moves on to another local problem for the
Christians of Corinth—the question of eating food offered to idols.
The New American Bible has a useful note on
the issues which are at stake:
“The Corinthians’ second question concerns meat that has
been sacrificed to idols; in this area they were exhibiting a disordered sense
of liberation that Paul here tries to rectify. These chapters contain a
sustained and unified argument that illustrates Paul’s method of theological
reflection on a moral dilemma. Although the problem with which he is dealing is
dated [namely, eating food offered to idols], the guidelines for moral
decisions that he offers are of lasting validity.”
Essentially Paul urges them to take a communitarian rather
than an individualistic view of their Christian freedom. Many
decisions that they consider pertinent only to their private relationship with
God have, in fact, social consequences. Nor can moral decisions be determined
by merely theoretical considerations; they must be based on concrete
circumstances, specifically on the value and needs of other individuals and on
mutual responsibility within the community. Paul here introduces the theme of “building
up” (Greek, oikodome)—i.e. of contributing by individual action to
the welfare and growth of the community. (See also 1 Cor 14; Rom 14:1-15.)
The topic—meat sacrificed to idols—is immediately
introduced. This refers to meat which had been offered in pagan temples to
idols. Meat left over from a sacrifice might be eaten by the priests, as well
as by the offerer and his friends at a feast in the temple or sold in the
public meat market. (At the site of ancient Corinth, archaeologists have
discovered two temples containing rooms apparently used for pagan feasts where
meat offered to idols was eaten; to such feasts Christians may have been
invited by pagan friends.) Some Christians felt that if they ate such meat,
they participated in pagan worship and thus compromised their testimony for
Christ. Other Christians did not feel this way.
Today’s passage begins with a rather abstract and vague
statement which makes one wonder where Paul is leading us. In fact, he is
enunciating a principle of the very greatest importance for our living together
as Christians and one that we neglect at our peril.
Paul opens with an apparently well-known slogan: “All of us
possess knowledge.” In Greece, knowledge was felt to be everything, but Paul
says that it can make people arrogant. What really builds people up, he says,
is love (a central theme of this letter). Knowledge without love is barren.
People equipped with much knowledge may not have a real understanding of what
life is about.
The truly wise person (like Socrates) above all knows what
he does not know. One is reminded of those people on some TV programmes who may
have encyclopaedic knowledge about all kinds of things, but as persons may have
been quite inadequate in coping with life. Pure knowledge can lead to arrogance
and a feeling of superiority; love, on the other hand, builds up. Better a
person filled with genuine love and theologically ignorant than a topnotch
theologian without a trace of love.
The person who loves and, in particular, the person who
loves God, “is known by him”, that is, has direct experiences of God’s love and
thus knows how to relate with others. This is the only knowledge really worth
having.
Today’s passage serves as an introduction to a question
which was very relevant to the Christians of Corinth, namely, the eating of
food which may have been offered to idols. In itself, this is clearly not a
problem for people in most of the Western world, but it can still be a matter
of conscience in some countries of Asia and Africa.
The questions for the Corinthians then were: Should
Christians eat such food or not? Would they be compromising their Christian
faith by taking this food? Could they accept invitations to eat such food in a
pagan house or temple?
Some Christians, especially converts from a former pagan
life, felt that by eating this meat they were taking part in idol worship and
were compromising their Christian faith. Others, however, including Paul and
perhaps others with a Jewish background, did not feel that way at all.
Paul gives a very nuanced answer, but one which we should
read carefully. He says that, in principle, enlightened Christians are
completely free to decide for themselves, but they must avoid leading astray
other Christians who are not yet liberated from their pre-conversion ideas. In
other words, as he has already said, knowledge alone is not enough for a good
decision; love of neighbour must also be taken into account.
In the reading, Paul first enunciates some of his own
convictions about the issue. He says there is really no need to worry about
food offered to idols because idols do not represent anything. There is only
one God. The rest are pure fakes. Indeed there seem to have been many so-called
gods in the Greek and Roman pantheons which were worshipped by thousands of
people, but the Christian knew that they had no real existence whatever.
For Paul, and for us:
…there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things
and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things
and through whom we exist.
These statements are found in different formulations
throughout Paul’s letters.
Nevertheless, continues Paul, the Corinthian Christians have
to acknowledge that among them there are many converts who have not completely
shaken off their old superstitions. While they have abjured the worship of
idols, they still have a feeling that they are somehow real. And they are
inclined to think that the food they see offered to idols is being offered to
something real. If, during a feast following worship in a temple, they are
invited to share in the food, they feel they are taking part in idol worship
and have sinned.
As mentioned, others, like Paul himself, do not feel this
way at all. They know that the idol has no existence and that for them there is
no real worship involved with a statue in a temple. The meat, whether it is at
a temple feast or on sale in the market place, can be eaten with impunity by
Christians.
However, Paul warns that those who, like Paul himself, feel
‘liberated’ in this matter must be careful not to become a stumbling block, a
source of scandal to their more sensitive brothers and sisters. If the latter
see a brother or sister dining together with people in a temple and eating food
that has just been offered to an idol, may they not be tempted to think that it
is alright to eat this meat when, in their weakness, they still attribute some
reality to these idols? If this is the case, they may further be led to believe
that worshipping idols is acceptable. In this way one could bring about the
spiritual destruction of a weaker brother or sister. The weak Christian could
be influenced by the example of the stronger Christian and, even though he or
she would feel it to be wrong, would go ahead and eat the meat offered to an
idol.
The weaker brother or sister may be persuaded to eat, but
afterwards would be filled with guilt for doing something he or she believed
was quite wrong and against the Christian faith. What is worse, if they did
this often enough, they might blunt their consciences and continue to do
something they still felt in their heart of hearts was not right.
In such a situation, it is the ‘stronger’ person who has
sinned. A weak conscience is wounded by eating meat offered to idols. The
result may be moral tragedy. There is a sin against Christ, who is present in
the ‘weaker’ person, and it could break the unity of the members of the body
(the church).
So Paul has made his own decision in this matter. Even
though he himself has no problems about eating such meat, he has resolved never
to eat meat again rather than be a source of scandal to a weaker member of the
community. Paul says he will not hurt their feelings and he will abstain from
something which in itself has nothing to do with his loving and serving his
Lord.
There is a very important lesson for all of us here.
Certainly principles, laws and rules are very important and in general they
should be observed. But there is one over-riding principle—and Paul mentions
it—the principle of agape-love, that is, a sensitive and empathic
caring for the well-being of the brother or sister. The not-eating of meat on
such occasions was a small price to pay for a brother’s or sister’s peace of
mind.
In our Church today, for instance, there are people who
still have not fully come to terms with changes, new ways of seeing things,
which were introduced by the Second Vatican Council years ago. To take one
small example, there are people who still feel they must eat fish on Fridays,
even though they know it is no longer compulsory to abstain from meat. There
are also those who feel they must receive Communion on the tongue and kneeling
down. For many others, receiving in the hand and standing makes much more
sense, and frankly it is closer to the ancient customs of the Church.
In the long run, though, it is not an issue to be fought
over (though certainly it may be discussed). By being adamant over not eating
fish on Friday or taking Communion in the hand, we may drive a brother or
sister away who still feels scruples about touching the Eucharistic bread,
something they were sternly warned about in the past.
Yet, this does not mean that we should adopt an attitude of
indifference that one way is as good as another. People do need to be formed to
help them understand the mind of the Church in such matters.
In the meantime, we must carefully distinguish matters where
we can in no way compromise. On marginal issues, however, we need to follow
Paul’s example of being flexible1.
The ultimate aim is to bring all together in union with Christ present in each
one.
_____________________________
- This
particular issue is dealt with at greater length in Paul’s Letter to the
Romans (chap 14), a passage, that for some reason is not read in our
liturgy. ↩︎
Commentary on Luke
6:27-38
For many people, even those who identify themselves as
Christians, this may be one of the most difficult passages in the Gospel. It
seems to express an idealism that is totally unrealistic and unattainable.
We live today in a world of terrible violence, of murder, of
terrorism—the horror of attacks on the innocent, of vicious vendettas often
stirred up in the press (especially the tabloids) and internet media, of
rampant litigation—suing and counter-suing. Are these things not to be avenged?
Where do Jesus’ words fit in? It is worth noting that the
passage begins:
I say to you who are listening…
In order to understand what Jesus is really saying to us, we
have to put aside our prejudices and assumptions and really listen to what he
is saying. This passage, in particular, is one where we are likely to react
emotionally.
Jesus says:
Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless
those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.
We may feel that to follow this teaching is to try something
which is totally beyond our capacity, that it would require a tremendous amount
of will-power, and that it would only encourage those people to behave even
worse. In the Old Testament, hatred of evildoers is presumed to be the right
attitude to have. But Jesus is extending love to the enemy and the persecutor.
This is the core of Jesus’ teaching, which he himself
practised. The Golden Rule, which is sometimes expressed as “Do not do to
others what you would not want them to do to you”, is expressed here in
positive terms.
The first big hurdle is the word “love”. For us, it is a
very emotional word, implying both affection and intimacy. For us, in English,
to ‘love’ is most often associated with to ‘be in love with’, to ‘be attracted
to’, to ‘desire’. But Jesus is not telling us to be in love with our enemies.
He is not even telling us to like them. The Greek verb which the Gospel uses
is agapao from which the noun agape comes. Agape [pronounced
‘ah-gah-pay’] is a special kind of love. It is not the physically-expressed love
of lovers, nor is it the love of close friends. It is rather an attitude of
positive regard towards other people by which I wish for their well-being.
This, in fact, is the love that God has for us. It is a
one-sided love in the sense that a return is not expected. God reaches out in
infinite love to every single person without exception. God wishes every person
to experience that love; God wishes the fullest well-being of every single
person. That love of his is often not returned; it is often rejected or
ignored.
But it continues unabated, like the father in the story of
the prodigal son waiting for his boy to come back. The father continued to love
his son even in his lowest moments of debauchery and degradation. It was the
same with the people who were nailing Jesus to the cross. He prayed for
them—for their being forgiven—and that they might come to a realisation of just
what they were doing. In this sense, loving our enemies seems altogether
reasonable. And not only not impossible, but really the only thing to do.
Who are our “enemies”? First of all, they are not our
enemies in the sense that we hate them or want to harm them. In that sense, a
Christian should have no enemies. Rather, enemies are people who are hostile to
us. They want to harm us, take revenge on us, even destroy us. There are two
ways we can deal with such people. We can set out to do more harm to them, to
take revenge on them, or try to wipe them out completely. Or we can try and
work to turn them round.
Our problem is that we tend to focus too much on ourselves
and our own immediate needs, and overlook the needs of others. To love as God
loves is to focus more on others. We can only do this if we have a strong inner
sense of security and self-acceptance. Then we are not too worried about what
people say about us or do to us.
And then, too, we can turn our attention much more to the
one who is hating or harming. We will begin to ask why do they have to act in
this way. What is hurting inside them that drives them to such behaviour? Already
we are, just by thinking in this way, beginning to care for our enemy and
beginning to love him or her. And is not this a much better solution to the
problem? Is it not better to bring peace back into that person’s life and
initiate a healing process in them and between them and us?
Jesus is not at all asking us to do something ‘unnatural’.
We do not naturally want to hate or be hated. We want to love and to be loved.
We see many parts of the world where, for years, there has been a process of
hatred and retaliation in a never-ending spiral of vengeance and loss of life.
The only way to break this cycle is to follow Jesus’ advice. It is not a
lose-lose or lose-win situation; it is a win-win situation where everyone
benefits.
Perhaps words of the late St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother
Teresa) are appropriate here:
“Love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give
whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them.
This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no
love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.”
To put Jesus’ teaching into effect is not a matter of
strengthening our will to do something very difficult, but to change our
conventional thinking at the deepest level, to see things his way. Once we do
that, it becomes much easier.
Jesus’ application of this teaching has also been the
subject of much mockery:
If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also,
and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.
We think that in a world where macho reigns, this is just
too much! Only wimps would follow Jesus’ advice because they are afraid to do
anything else! Our movie ‘heroes’ know what to do in such cases: mow them down,
knock them out, blow them up!
Again, it is a question of seeing things from Jesus’, that
is, God’s viewpoint. Turning the other cheek, as it is presented here, is not
at all an act of weakness. It requires great courage and great inner strength
and an awareness that the one who strikes is the one who is really weak. It is
easy to lash out at another person by word or act. It is easy to hit back; it
is almost an instinctive reaction, but it is not the truly human response.
To hit back is to reduce oneself to the same level as one’s
attacker, and it solves nothing in the long run. Deliberately and calmly not to
hit back is to refuse (in the words of Canadian-born psychiatrist, Eric Berne)
“to play the other person’s game”. It is to break the cycle and change the
level of the playing field and move it to a higher level—the level of mutual
respect and human dignity.
Jesus set the example when he was struck on the face during
his trial. During the whole degradation of the Passion his dignity shines out,
in contrast to the pathetic posturings of his judges and tormentors. This was
the spirit that guided some leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King
Jr, and which is behind all movements devoted to active non-violence.
Jesus lived the example of the principle: ‘Treat others as
you would like them to treat you’. You do not want to be hated or struck so you
refuse, no matter what happens, to hate or strike another person. He also said:
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to
you? For even sinners love those who love them.
So no, we will not react simply in the way others deal with
us. As followers of Christ, we see things in a completely different way and we
want to behave differently. We believe that not only do we personally benefit
from following Jesus’ way, but that others too will benefit and may even come
to our point of view.
Finally, Jesus calls us to follow the model of God himself:
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
In Matthew’s Gospel it is written:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.
(Matt 5:48)
The meaning is the same: our perfection consists in our
empathetic reaching out in compassionate agape to every single
person. And, through us, the compassion of God can then be experienced by
people.
We are not to judge or condemn persons. (This is not the
same as being asked and required to give an objective and discerned evaluation
of a person’s behaviour or fitness for some task or position; behavior does
have consequences.) And we are to forgive. Then we will not be condemned, and
we will in turn receive forgiveness.
The emphasis is on reaching out to others rather than
gathering for ourselves and being turned in on our little, insecure selves.
Jesus says:
Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be
given to you.
Jesus put this graphically when he told us to give not only
our cloak to someone asking for it but our tunic as well. Given that the poor
in those days only had two garments, that would leave the donor totally naked!
But that is the point—the one filled with the spirit of
Christ has nothing to lose, nothing of which to be ashamed. Life consists in
what we are able to give and not what we can get. Jesus says to us:
…the measure you give will be the measure you get back.
And that, above all, applies to agape-love.
Everyone can give an endless supply of that.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
You redeem us and make us Your
children in Christ. Look upon us, give us true freedom and bring us to the
inheritance You promised.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives
and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 6: 27-38
Jesus said to his disciples: "To you who hear I say, love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer
the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not
withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one
who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have
them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good
to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money
to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even
sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your
enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward
will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind
to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is
merciful. "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and
you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts
will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and
overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you
measure will in return be measured out to you."
Reflection
In today’s Gospel we have the
second part of the “discourse on the plain.” In the first part (Lk 6: 20-26),
Jesus addresses Himself to the disciples (Lk 6: 20). In the second part (Lk 6:
27-49), He addresses Himself “to you who listen to Me,” that is, the great
crowds of poor and sick people, who had come from all parts (Lk 6: 17-
19).
•
Luke 6: 27-30: Love your enemies! The words that
Jesus addresses to these people are demanding and difficult: to love your
enemies, not to curse them, to present the other cheek to anyone who slaps you
on one cheek, and do not protest or complain when somebody takes what is yours.
Taken literally, these commands seem to favor the rich who rob, but not even
Jesus observes them literally. When the soldier struck Him on the face, He did
not offer the other cheek but rather reacted firmly: “If there is some offense
in what I said, point it out, but if not why do you strike Me?” (Jn 18: 22-23).
Then, how are these words to be understood? The following verses help us to
understand what Jesus wants to teach us.
•
Luke 6: 31-36: The Golden Rule! to imitate God.
Two sayings of Jesus help us to understand what He wants to teach. The first
saying is the so-called Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would like people to
treat you!” (Lk 6: 31). The second saying is “Be merciful as your Father in
Heaven is merciful!” (Lk 6: 36). These two directives indicate that Jesus does
not want simply to change the situation, because nothing would change. He wants
to change the system. The novelty which He wants to construct comes from the
new experience of God the Father, full of tenderness who accepts all! The words
of threat against the rich cannot be the occasion of revenge on the part of the
poor! Jesus demands the contrary attitude: “Love your enemies!” Love cannot
depend on what I receive from others. True love should want the good of others,
independently of what he or she does for me. Love should be creative, because
that is how God’s love is for us: “Be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is
merciful!” Matthew says the same thing with other words: “Be perfect as your
Father in Heaven is perfect” (Mt 5: 48). Never will anyone be able to say,
“Today I have been perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect! I have been
merciful as the Father in Heaven is merciful.” We will always be below the
measure which Jesus has placed before us.
In Luke’s Gospel, the Golden Rule says, “Treat others as
you would like people to treat you!” (Lk 6: 31). Matthew, in his Gospel, gives
a different formulation: “Treat others as you would like others to treat you.”
And he adds, “That is the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 7: 12). Practically, all
religions in the whole world have the same Golden Rule with a diverse
formulation. This is a sign that a universal intuition or desire is expressed
which comes from God and is part of our being in the image of God.
•
Luke 6: 37-38: “Do not judge and you will not be
judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be
forgiven; give and there will be gifts for you; a full measure, pressed down,
shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the
standard you use will be the standard used for you.” These are four counsels:
two in a negative form, do not judge and do not condemn; and two in positive
form: to forgive and to give an abundant measure. When He says, “there will be
gifts for you,” Jesus refers to the treatment which God wants to bestow on us.
But when our way of treating others is mean, God cannot use with us the
abundant and overflowing measure that He would want to use.
Celebrate the visit of God. The Discourse on the Plains or
the Sermon on the Mount, from the beginning, leads the listeners to make a
choice, to opt, in favor of the poor. In the Old Testament, several times, God
placed before people this same choice, blessing or curse. People were given the
freedom to choose: “Today I call heaven and earth to witness against you: I am
offering you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you
and your descendants may live” (Deut 30: 19). It is not God who condemns, but
the people themselves according to the choice that they make between life and
death, good or evil. These moments of choosing are moments of the visit of God
to His people (Gen 21: 1; 50: 24-25); Ex 3: 16; 32: 34; Jr 20: 10; Ps 65: 10;
Ps 80: 15; Ps 106: 4). Luke is the only Evangelist who uses this image of the
visit of God (Lk 1: 68, 78; 7: 16; 19: 44; Acts 15: 16). For Luke it is the
visit of God which places the choice between blessing or curse before people:
“Blessed are you who are poor” and “Alas for you, the rich!” But people do not
recognize the visit of God (Lk 19: 44).
Personal Questions
•
Do we look at life and at people with the same
viewpoint as Jesus?
•
What does it mean today “be merciful as your
Heavenly Father is merciful”?
•
Am I as literal as Jesus in love and mercy, or
do I rationalize it away and compartmentalize it so it doesn’t apply to
situations in my life?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, You examine me and know me, You know when I
sit, when I rise, You understand my thoughts from afar. You watch when I walk
or lie down, You know every detail of my conduct. (Ps 139: 1-3)
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