June 16, 2026
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 366
Reading 1
After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the
Tishbite:
"Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,
who rules in Samaria.
He will be in the vineyard of Naboth,
of which he has come to take possession.
This is what you shall tell him,
'The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession?
For this, the LORD says:
In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth,
the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'"
Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me out, my enemy?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD's sight,
I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you
and will cut off every male in Ahab's line,
whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah,
because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
(Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared,
"The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.")
"When one of Ahab's line dies in the city,
dogs will devour him;
when one of them dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will devour him."
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil
in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab,
urged on by his wife Jezebel.
He became completely abominable by following idols,
just as the Amorites had done,
whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments
and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh.
He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
"Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
51:3-4, 5-6ab, 11 and 16
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
then my tongue shall revel in your justice.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment;
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061626.cfm
Commentary on 1
Kings 21:17-29
Our reading today follows immediately on yesterday’s
passage. We see Ahab now pay the price for the murder of Naboth.
Ahab has just been told by his wife that Naboth is now dead,
so he immediately goes down to the vineyard he coveted so much to take it over.
But just then Elijah is receiving instructions from the Lord to go and confront
the king in the vineyard. He is given a strong message to pass on to Ahab:
Thus says the Lord: Have you killed and also taken
possession? You shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs
licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood.
Ahab had not directly killed Naboth, but he had cooperated
fully in the murder and theft planned by his wife, and as king, the ultimate
responsibility was with him.
In fact, Ahab’s repentance for his actions, which will be
mentioned in a moment, brought about a postponement of this prophecy. Instead,
it will be the body of his son Joram which will be thrown on the field of
Naboth.
More than that, Ahab is told that all his male descendants,
free or slave, will be wiped out. Their bodies will either be eaten by dogs or
by carrion-eating birds. The body of Jezebel, too, will be eaten by dogs.
Elijah is told by God:
Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs
shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the air
shall eat.
These were terrible indignities as dogs were symbolical of
all that was unclean and defiled. We remember the poor man Lazarus in the house
of the rich man. The level of Lazarus’ helpless destitution was indicated by
dogs coming to lick his sores. He did not even have the strength to drive them
away; meanwhile the rich man sat there doing nothing.
As Elijah pronounces God’s sentence, note the similarity
with the episode of Nathan and David (where David is accused of the death of
Uriah after his adultery with Bathsheba). On each occasion Yahweh defends the
helpless against the powerful and, as in the case of David, there is the same
reprieve for the repentant offender who is punished only through his son. But
there are differences, too. David’s dynasty retains the divine promise, whereas
Ahab’s is “consumed”. Nathan remains David’s prophet and blesses Solomon, but
Elijah is Ahab’s “enemy”.
In addition to this murder, we are told that Ahab was
responsible for all kinds of abominations, connected with the idolatrous
practices of the Canaanites, under the pernicious influence of his wife. He
became no different from the Amorites, a reference to the idolatrous peoples of
Canaan before the Israelites arrived.
To his credit, after hearing the condemnation of Elijah,
Ahab deeply repents of what he has done. He rends his garments, puts on
sackcloth and walks in the slow steps of the repentant person.
Because of this, the punishments against his family would be
postponed until after he died. He was, in fact, killed in battle at Ramoth
Gilead and, after his body was brought to Samaria, dogs licked the blood that
was being washed from his chariot. His son Joram was killed and the body thrown
into Naboth’s field—just as Elijah had foretold.
Reflecting on this story we can say two things. First, our
wrongdoings carry with them unavoidable punishments, built into the very nature
of evil actions. And second, no matter how serious our faults, God’s compassion
and forgiveness awaits those who genuinely repent and change their ways.
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Commentary on
Matthew 5:43-48
We come to the last of the six examples that Jesus gave in
his Sermon on the Mount as illustrations of how he brings the teaching of the
Law to a higher and more perfect plane. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to his
disciples:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.’
This saying is not found as such in the Hebrew Testament.
Rather we find in the book of Leviticus that it says:
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any
of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself… (Lev
19:18)
The wording here would seem to condone, however, acts of
revenge against strangers and outsiders. And in practice, as indeed is the case
in many communities throughout the world, the saying of Jesus reflects the way
many people feel is a justified way of acting. And as we saw earlier on where
Jesus spoke about anger, at least limited revenge was condoned in the phrase
“an eye for an eye”.
Again, Jesus turns things on their head with a saying which
many people would find quite unrealistic, if not downright stupid. He tells us
actually to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. How can we
be asked to do such a thing?
Yet, if we would only reflect a little, the advice of Jesus
makes a great deal of sense and, in fact, is really the only way to go for our
own happiness and peace. Otherwise, as Jesus says, his listeners were no
different from “tax collectors”, a group who, because they worked for the occupying
power, were held in special contempt—or pagans, that is, people who lived
godless lives.
To understand what Jesus is saying we need to clarify two
words, ‘love’ and ‘enemies’. Who are our enemies? They can be either the people
that we are hostile towards, or the people who are hostile to us.
The practising Christian who takes on board the teaching of
Jesus will want to have positive attitudes to people in general, and will not
marginalise anyone on the basis of race, nationality, colour, class, gender or
other personal characteristics. Such a person will not want to act in a way to
create hostility in others unnecessarily.
However, simply because we try to look and act positively
towards others is no guarantee that they will act in the same way towards us.
Through no objective fault of our own, we may become the object of their
dislike, resentment, hatred, jealousy, anger and even violence. These are our
enemies, and we are to love them.
But what does ‘love’ mean here? The word that the Gospel
uses is a verb from the Greek noun agape. Agape is
a unilateral way of loving by which, irrespective of the actions or attitudes
of another person, I desire their well-being. It is the love which God extends
to every one of his creatures, irrespective of how they respond to him. In this
it is quite different from the love which involves sharing, intimacy, affection
and a strong element of mutual giving.
We are not being asked to love our enemies with the love of
affection—to be ‘in love’ with them, or even to be fond of them. That would not
make sense and they would not want it. But we are asked to reach out and desire
their well-being. This can be done when we focus our attention and our concern
more on them than on ourselves.
When we are the objects of other people’s hostility we tend
to go on the defensive and to generate negative attitudes towards the other.
Our inner security (or insecurity) is under attack. Instead, Jesus is asking us
to respond to the real situation rather than to react to spontaneous feelings.
When someone hates me, attacks me or is angry with me for no
reason that I can think of, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I can choose
to ask, “What is wrong with that person? Why is that person acting in that way?
What is bothering that person? Is there any way I can help to dissolve this person’s
negative behaviour, which is probably a sign of some inner self-hating or
insecurity on their part?”
And certainly when I begin to think in this way, it becomes
perfectly natural to pray for that person, to pray for their inner healing, for
a restoration of peace and inner security. To hate someone who hates me, to be
violent with someone who is violent with me, simply means that there are twice
as many problems as there were at the beginning. By responding in the way that
Jesus suggests, we end up with no problem at all!
And Jesus gives us another motive for acting in this way—it
is the way God himself acts. He causes the hot, merciless sun to shine on the
good as well as the bad; the cool, refreshing rain falls equally on the bad as
well as the good. What Jesus is saying is that God’s love, his agape,
reaches out indiscriminately to every single person, irrespective of their
behaviour. The passage ends with Jesus saying:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.
Perfection here refers to that unconditional agape love
that God extends to every single person. If we are to grow into the likeness of
God and give witness to his presence in the world, we need to act in exactly
the same way. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if people followed Jesus’
advice? Far from being impractical, it is the only way to go.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2113g/
Tuesday,
June 16, 2026
11th Week of Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, our hope and our
strength, without you we falter. Help us to follow Christ and to live according
to your will.
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 5: 43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: 'You have heard how it was said,
You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say this to you, love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children
of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as
the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. For
if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax
collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are
you doing anything exceptional? Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must
therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.'
Reflection
In today’s Gospel we get to the
summit of the Mountain of the Beatitudes, where Jesus proclaimed the Law of the
Kingdom of God, the ideal of which can be summarized in this lapidarian phrase:
“Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5: 48) Jesus was correcting
the Law of God! Five times, one after another, he had already affirmed: “It was
said, but I say to you!” (Mt 5: 21, 27, 31, 33, 38). This was a sign of great
courage on his part, in public, before all the people gathered there, to
correct the most sacred treasure of the people, the origin of their identity,
which was the Law of God. Jesus wants to communicate a new way of looking and
of practicing the Law of God. The key, so as to be able to get this new look,
is the affirmation: “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect”. Never will
anyone be able to say: “Today I have been perfect as the Heavenly Father is
perfect!” We are always below the measure which Jesus has placed before us.
Perhaps, because of this, he has placed before us an ideal which is impossible
for us mortal beings to attain?
•
Matthew 5: 43-45: It was said: You will love
your neighbor and hate your enemy. In this phrase Jesus explains the mentality
with which the Scribes explained the Law; a mentality which resulted from the
divisions among the Jews and the non Jews, between neighbor and non neighbor,
between saint and sinner, between the clean and the unclean, etc. Jesus orders
to overthrow this pretense, these interested divisions. He orders to overcome
divisions. “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you! So that you may be children of your Father in Heaven, for he
causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to
fall on the upright and the wicked alike”. And from here we draw from the
source from which springs the novelty of the Kingdom. This source is proper to
God who is recognized as Father, who causes his sun to rise on the bad as well
as the good. Jesus orders that we imitate this God: “Be perfect as your
Heavenly Father is perfect” (5: 48). And, it is in imitating this God that we
can create a just society, radically new.
•
Matthew 5: 46-48: Be perfect as your Heavenly
Father is perfect. Everything is summarized in imitating God: "But I say
to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may
be children of your Father in Heaven who causes the sun to rise on the bad as
well as on the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked
alike. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not
even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your
brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not even the gentiles do as
much? Therefore, you be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:
43-48). Love is the beginning and the end of everything. There is no greater
love than to give one’s life for the brother (Jn 15: 13). Jesus imitated the
Father and revealed his love. Every gesture, every word of Jesus, from his
birth until the hour of his death on the cross, it was an expression of this
creative love which does not depend on the gift received, neither does it
discriminate the other because of race, sex, religion or social class, but
which comes from wishing well in a completely gratuitous way. This was
continually growing, from birth until his death on the Cross.
•
The full manifestation of the creative love in
Jesus. This was when on the Cross he offered forgiveness to the soldier who
tortured him and killed him. The soldier, employed by the Empire, placed the
wrist of Jesus on the arm of the Cross, placed a nail and began to hammer. He
hammered several times. The blood fell flowing down. The body of Jesus twisted
with pain. The mercenary soldier, ignorant of what he was doing and of what was
happening around him, continued to hammer as if it was a nail on the wall to
hang a picture. At that moment Jesus addresses this prayer to the Father:
“Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing!” (Lk 23: 34).
In spite of all the will of men, the lack of humanity did
not succeed to extinguish humanity in Jesus. They take him, they mock him, they
spit on his face, they scoff him, they make of him a clown king with a crown of
thorns on the head, they scourged him, torture him, make him walk on the
streets as if he were a criminal, he has to listen to the insults of the
religious authority, on Calvary they leave him completely naked at the sight of
all. But the poison of lack of humanity does not succeed to reach the source of
humanity which sprang from the Heart of Jesus. The water which sprang from
within was stronger than the poison from without, wanting to contaminate
everything. Looking at that ignorant and rude soldier, Jesus felt compassion
for the soldier and prayed for him and for all: “Father, forgive them!”
And he adds even an excuse: “They are ignorant. They do not
know what they are doing!” Before the Father, Jesus is in solidarity with those
who torture him and ill treat him. Like the brother who sees his murder
brothers before the judge and he, victim of his own brothers, tells the judge:
“You know they are my brothers. They are ignorant. Forgive them. They will
become better!” It was as if Jesus was afraid that the minimum anger against
man could extinguish in him the remaining humanity which still existed. This
unbelievable gesture of humanity and of faith in the possibility of recovering
that soldier has been the greatest revelation of the love of God. Jesus can
die: “It is fulfilled!” And bowing his head he gave up his spirit (Jn 19: 30).
In this way he fulfilled the prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Is 53).
Personal Questions
•
Which is the most profound reason for the effort
which you make to observe God’s Law: to merit salvation or to thank for God who
in his immense goodness has created you, keeps you alive and saves you?
•
What meaning do you give to the phrase: “to be
perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect?
Concluding Prayer
Have mercy on me, O God, in your
faithful love, in your great tenderness wipe away my offences; wash me clean
from my guilt, purify me from my sin. (Ps 51: 1- 2)
