Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 79
Lectionary: 79
The LORD said to Moses,
"Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
"You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD."
"Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
"You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD."
Responsorial
PsalmPS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10,
12-13
R. (8a) The
Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Reading 21 COR 3:16-23
Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Alleluia1 JN 2:5
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 5:38-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
"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."
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
"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."
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Note: Where a Scripture text is underlined in the body of this discussion, it is recommended that the reader look up and read that passage.
1st Reading - Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
The book of Leviticus focuses mainly on one of the tribes of Israel: Levi, and particularly on its priests and their duties in regard to divine worship. It is a book intended primarily for priests (Levites) while Deuteronomy is intended primarily for the laity.
The Leviticus account begins with the second year of the exodus, when the Hebrews are already in the middle of the wilderness. As you will recall, the Levitical priesthood came about as a result of the sin if the golden calf (Exodus 32). After Moses had come down the mountain and smashed the tablets, burned the calf and made the Israelites drink water containing the ashes, he stood at the entrance to the camp and said “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me”, and all the Levites rallied to him. They then went through the camp and slew about 3,000 people. Then Moses declared “You have been set apart to the Lord today (the Revised Standard Version says “Today you have ordained yourselves ...”), for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.” Thus the Levitical priesthood was born. The tabernacle is made, with its altars and regulations about the worship to be given to Yahweh. Now, Moses develops these forms of worship in much more detail: Leviticus is really a manual for that liturgy.
To understand the book properly one must bear in mind two basic reference points: First, Yahweh, the God of Israel, is infinitely holy, inaccessible to man (Exodus 19:21), and therefore totally transcendent (unknowable); Second, despite this He dwells in the midst of His people (Leviticus 23:32; 26:12). Therefore He asks of them not only reverence, love and adoration, but a holiness of life which enables them to live as His true children forever in His presence (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2). Worship and holiness of life are the two main concerns of Leviticus.
Today, we hear one of the rules of conduct which are set out in chapter 19; that of love of neighbor. Other rules included reverence for parents, observance of the Sabbath, avoidance of idolatry, upon harvesting leaving some of the grain in the fields for the poor, and the practice of justice and charity in social dealings.
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy. 17 “You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him.
The sin would lie in the failure to correct your fellow man. Correction to ensure proper conduct is a very serious responsibility.
18 Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
According to the teaching of Christ in Luke 10:29, “neighbor” is to be taken in its widest possible extension. Also, according to Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39 and Mark 12:30-31, this command, taken together with Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might”, sums up the whole of the Law and the Prophets.
2nd Reading - 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
As we work our way through the first part of 1st Corinthians, last week we heard Saint Paul tell of the true wisdom of God. This week he again addresses the divisions in the people of God and reminds the Corinthians (and us) who we really belong to.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The Corinthian community is a temple of God, because the Divine Spirit dwells in it. Later, in chapter 6 (6:19), the metaphor of the Temple is applied to the body of the individual Christian, because the Spirit dwells in every one of the baptized. The individual application is secondary. The Spirit comes into the community and gives Himself to individuals through the community.
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
The community is holy because it belongs go God; this is a fundamental theological reality to which Saint Paul often refers. Pagans, as well as Jews, regarded desecration of a temple as a heinous crime.
“Paul says this in order to prick the consciences of those who have corrupted their bodies through evil living, especially the man who was having an affair with his father’s wife.” [The Ambrosiaster (A.D. 366-384), Commentaries on Thirteen Pauline Epistles 1 Corinthians
3,17]
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.
Become a fool by accepting the foolishness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: “He catches the wise in their own ruses,”
“How does God catch the wise in their own craftiness (Job 5:13)? By showing them that while they imagined they can do without God, just then they would have all the more need of Him. They are reduced to such a strait as to appear inferior to fishers and illiterates, whose wisdom they cannot now do without.” [Saint John Chrysostom (A.D. 392), Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 10,3]
20 and again: “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” 21 So let no one boast about human beings,
This is the thought of 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A). In their vain and merely human appraisal of the ministers of the gospel the Corinthians have shown themselves to be fools, judging by the wisdom of this world. If the Corinthians were genuinely wise, they would see everything in the world and those with whom they exist in the Church in their true relations with one another.
for everything belongs to you, 22 Paul or Apollos or Kephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you,
No Christian should glory in men, calling himself a disciple of any preacher, to the detriment of the unity of the Church. The ministers of the gospel are for the faithful, not the faithful for them.
23 and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Paul associates to the preachers all creation and all the happenings of history. God ordains all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Belonging to Christ, who in turn belongs to God, the Christian dominates the world and its happenings. He shares already by faith and hope in the triumph of the Lord. Notice the scale of ownership: God to Christ to Church members to Church leaders; and the scale of obligation to serve: Church leaders to Church members to Christ to God.
“We are Christ’s because we have been made by Him [by grace]. But Christ is God’s, not as a creature but as His own Son.” [Saint John Chrysostom (A.D. 392), Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 10,4]
Gospel - Matthew 5:38-48
We continue for the fourth straight week with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. On the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we heard Jesus deliver the beatitudes. Since that time, each Sunday we have heard Jesus enlarge on the general statements of the beatitudes by concrete examples. Today we hear of revenge and love of one’s enemies.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
This quotes a legal rule called talion (meaning “such” or “same”) regulating revenge and retaliation for damages (Exodus 21:22-25); Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21). The law of revenge was an ancient custom of the Near East that protected individuals by obliging the next of kin to avenge injury or murder or to purchase back property in order to pay the debts of a kinsman (the Hebrew word goel means “kinsman-redeemer”). The laws of the Pentateuch are actually restrictions that limit the injury inflicted by the avenger to injury proportionate to the damage done by the aggressor (only one eye, not two). When first introduced, it constituted genuine moral progress. By the time of Jesus the rabbis already felt it too harsh and began the process of commuting the penalty to fines, but the principle of corresponding restitution remained dominant in legal thinking.
39 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
The customary principle of self defense is rejected by this saying of Jesus. This leaves open the possibility of psychological or moral resistance (media fighting) exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The goal is to shame the opponent into a change of heart. This presupposes the requisite dispositions of the opponent, which are not always present.
When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.
Striking the right cheek with the back of the hand is considered particularly dishonoring (Lamentations 3:30).
40 If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
Having addressed the law of revenge, Jesus now tells the disciples not to meet legal action with legal action, but to yield what is contested and even beyond what is contested. The tunic is a long shirt worn next to the body, and the cloak is a heavier outer garment that protects against the cold and rain. These were normally the only two garments worn by the Palestinian peasant. In Exodus 22:25-26 the creditor who takes the cloak in pledge is directed to return it at sundown so that the debtor may have covering for the night.
41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.
Forced labor or service was a part of the contribution of the subjects of ancient states to the government. Roman garrisons had the right to requisition the property and services of the native population.
42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
The theme of giving to beggars and borrowers goes beyond the scope of non-resistance to evil to advocate general kindness, forbearance, generosity, and an open attitude toward people.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
The precept of the love of one’s neighbor is quoted from Leviticus 19:18 (our 1st reading); the precept of hating one’s enemy is not found in the Old Testament, nor is it a summary of rabbinical teaching. The “neighbor” of the love commandment however was understood to be one’s countryman, it did not extend past national bounds. The enemy is specified in Matthew as the persecutor, probably a reflection of the experience of the early Church.
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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.
The disciples are to show the same indifference to who is friend and who is enemy that God shows in the distribution of sunshine and rain; in exhibiting this godlike providence they vindicate their title as sons of God.
46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
Matthew uses terms that identify two despised classes among the Jews: the Gentiles (pagans), and the tax collectors.
48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
By this kind of love the disciples will be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. This final verse is taken from Deuteronomy 18:3 and Leviticus 19:2 where the word “holy” is used. “Perfect” represents the Hebrew word for “whole” or “integral”; it is the love of one’s enemies that assures the integrity of Christian morality and distinguishes it from merely ethical morality.
Note: Where a Scripture text is underlined in the body of this discussion, it is recommended that the reader look up and read that passage.
1st Reading - Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
The book of Leviticus focuses mainly on one of the tribes of Israel: Levi, and particularly on its priests and their duties in regard to divine worship. It is a book intended primarily for priests (Levites) while Deuteronomy is intended primarily for the laity.
The Leviticus account begins with the second year of the exodus, when the Hebrews are already in the middle of the wilderness. As you will recall, the Levitical priesthood came about as a result of the sin if the golden calf (Exodus 32). After Moses had come down the mountain and smashed the tablets, burned the calf and made the Israelites drink water containing the ashes, he stood at the entrance to the camp and said “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me”, and all the Levites rallied to him. They then went through the camp and slew about 3,000 people. Then Moses declared “You have been set apart to the Lord today (the Revised Standard Version says “Today you have ordained yourselves ...”), for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.” Thus the Levitical priesthood was born. The tabernacle is made, with its altars and regulations about the worship to be given to Yahweh. Now, Moses develops these forms of worship in much more detail: Leviticus is really a manual for that liturgy.
To understand the book properly one must bear in mind two basic reference points: First, Yahweh, the God of Israel, is infinitely holy, inaccessible to man (Exodus 19:21), and therefore totally transcendent (unknowable); Second, despite this He dwells in the midst of His people (Leviticus 23:32; 26:12). Therefore He asks of them not only reverence, love and adoration, but a holiness of life which enables them to live as His true children forever in His presence (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2). Worship and holiness of life are the two main concerns of Leviticus.
Today, we hear one of the rules of conduct which are set out in chapter 19; that of love of neighbor. Other rules included reverence for parents, observance of the Sabbath, avoidance of idolatry, upon harvesting leaving some of the grain in the fields for the poor, and the practice of justice and charity in social dealings.
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy. 17 “You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him.
The sin would lie in the failure to correct your fellow man. Correction to ensure proper conduct is a very serious responsibility.
18 Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
According to the teaching of Christ in Luke 10:29, “neighbor” is to be taken in its widest possible extension. Also, according to Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39 and Mark 12:30-31, this command, taken together with Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might”, sums up the whole of the Law and the Prophets.
2nd Reading - 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
As we work our way through the first part of 1st Corinthians, last week we heard Saint Paul tell of the true wisdom of God. This week he again addresses the divisions in the people of God and reminds the Corinthians (and us) who we really belong to.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The Corinthian community is a temple of God, because the Divine Spirit dwells in it. Later, in chapter 6 (6:19), the metaphor of the Temple is applied to the body of the individual Christian, because the Spirit dwells in every one of the baptized. The individual application is secondary. The Spirit comes into the community and gives Himself to individuals through the community.
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
The community is holy because it belongs go God; this is a fundamental theological reality to which Saint Paul often refers. Pagans, as well as Jews, regarded desecration of a temple as a heinous crime.
“Paul says this in order to prick the consciences of those who have corrupted their bodies through evil living, especially the man who was having an affair with his father’s wife.” [The Ambrosiaster (A.D. 366-384), Commentaries on Thirteen Pauline Epistles 1 Corinthians
3,17]
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.
Become a fool by accepting the foolishness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: “He catches the wise in their own ruses,”
“How does God catch the wise in their own craftiness (Job 5:13)? By showing them that while they imagined they can do without God, just then they would have all the more need of Him. They are reduced to such a strait as to appear inferior to fishers and illiterates, whose wisdom they cannot now do without.” [Saint John Chrysostom (A.D. 392), Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 10,3]
20 and again: “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” 21 So let no one boast about human beings,
This is the thought of 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A). In their vain and merely human appraisal of the ministers of the gospel the Corinthians have shown themselves to be fools, judging by the wisdom of this world. If the Corinthians were genuinely wise, they would see everything in the world and those with whom they exist in the Church in their true relations with one another.
for everything belongs to you, 22 Paul or Apollos or Kephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you,
No Christian should glory in men, calling himself a disciple of any preacher, to the detriment of the unity of the Church. The ministers of the gospel are for the faithful, not the faithful for them.
23 and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Paul associates to the preachers all creation and all the happenings of history. God ordains all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Belonging to Christ, who in turn belongs to God, the Christian dominates the world and its happenings. He shares already by faith and hope in the triumph of the Lord. Notice the scale of ownership: God to Christ to Church members to Church leaders; and the scale of obligation to serve: Church leaders to Church members to Christ to God.
“We are Christ’s because we have been made by Him [by grace]. But Christ is God’s, not as a creature but as His own Son.” [Saint John Chrysostom (A.D. 392), Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 10,4]
Gospel - Matthew 5:38-48
We continue for the fourth straight week with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. On the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we heard Jesus deliver the beatitudes. Since that time, each Sunday we have heard Jesus enlarge on the general statements of the beatitudes by concrete examples. Today we hear of revenge and love of one’s enemies.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
This quotes a legal rule called talion (meaning “such” or “same”) regulating revenge and retaliation for damages (Exodus 21:22-25); Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21). The law of revenge was an ancient custom of the Near East that protected individuals by obliging the next of kin to avenge injury or murder or to purchase back property in order to pay the debts of a kinsman (the Hebrew word goel means “kinsman-redeemer”). The laws of the Pentateuch are actually restrictions that limit the injury inflicted by the avenger to injury proportionate to the damage done by the aggressor (only one eye, not two). When first introduced, it constituted genuine moral progress. By the time of Jesus the rabbis already felt it too harsh and began the process of commuting the penalty to fines, but the principle of corresponding restitution remained dominant in legal thinking.
39 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
The customary principle of self defense is rejected by this saying of Jesus. This leaves open the possibility of psychological or moral resistance (media fighting) exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The goal is to shame the opponent into a change of heart. This presupposes the requisite dispositions of the opponent, which are not always present.
When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.
Striking the right cheek with the back of the hand is considered particularly dishonoring (Lamentations 3:30).
40 If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
Having addressed the law of revenge, Jesus now tells the disciples not to meet legal action with legal action, but to yield what is contested and even beyond what is contested. The tunic is a long shirt worn next to the body, and the cloak is a heavier outer garment that protects against the cold and rain. These were normally the only two garments worn by the Palestinian peasant. In Exodus 22:25-26 the creditor who takes the cloak in pledge is directed to return it at sundown so that the debtor may have covering for the night.
41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.
Forced labor or service was a part of the contribution of the subjects of ancient states to the government. Roman garrisons had the right to requisition the property and services of the native population.
42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
The theme of giving to beggars and borrowers goes beyond the scope of non-resistance to evil to advocate general kindness, forbearance, generosity, and an open attitude toward people.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
The precept of the love of one’s neighbor is quoted from Leviticus 19:18 (our 1st reading); the precept of hating one’s enemy is not found in the Old Testament, nor is it a summary of rabbinical teaching. The “neighbor” of the love commandment however was understood to be one’s countryman, it did not extend past national bounds. The enemy is specified in Matthew as the persecutor, probably a reflection of the experience of the early Church.
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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.
The disciples are to show the same indifference to who is friend and who is enemy that God shows in the distribution of sunshine and rain; in exhibiting this godlike providence they vindicate their title as sons of God.
46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
Matthew uses terms that identify two despised classes among the Jews: the Gentiles (pagans), and the tax collectors.
48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
By this kind of love the disciples will be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. This final verse is taken from Deuteronomy 18:3 and Leviticus 19:2 where the word “holy” is used. “Perfect” represents the Hebrew word for “whole” or “integral”; it is the love of one’s enemies that assures the integrity of Christian morality and distinguishes it from merely ethical morality.
Meditation: A spring of water welling up to
eternal life
Would you do a favor for someone who snubbed you or
treated you like an enemy? Jesus did just that and more! He treated the
Samaritans, the sworn enemies of the Jews, with great kindness and respect. The
Samaritans who lived in middle region of Israel between Galilee and Judaea and
the Jews who lived in the rest of the land of Israel had been divided for
centuries. They had no dealings with one another, avoiding all social contact,
even trade, and inter-marriage. If their paths crossed it would not be unusual
for hostility to break out.
When Jesus decided to pass through Samaria he stopped
at Jacob's well because it was mid-day and he was both tired from the journey
and thirsty. Jacob's well was a good mile and a half from the nearest town,
called Sychar. It wasn't easy to draw water from this well since it was over a
hundred feet deep. Jesus had neither rope nor bucket to fetch the water.
When a Samaritan woman showed up at the well, both
were caught by surprise. Why would a Samaritan woman walk a mile and a half in
the mid-day heat to fetch her water at a remote well rather than in her local
town? She was an outcast and not welcomed among her own townspeople. Jesus then
did something no respectable Jew would think of doing. He reached out to her,
thus risking ritual impurity and scorn from his fellow Jews. He also did
something no strict Rabbi would dare to do in public without loss to his
reputation. He treated the woman like he would treat one of his friends - he
greeted her and spoke at length with her. Jesus' welcoming approach to her was
scandalous to both Jews and Samaritans because this woman was an adulteress and
public sinner as well. No decent Jew or Samaritan would even think of being
seen with such a woman, let alone exchanging a word with her!
Jesus broke through the barriers of prejudice,
hostility, and tradition to bring the good news of peace and reconciliation to
Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles alike. He demonstrated the universality of the
gospel both in word and deed. No one is barred from the love of God and the
good news of salvation. There is only one thing that can keep us from God and
his redeeming love - our stubborn pride and wilful rebellion.
What is the point of Jesus' exchange with the
Samaritan woman about water? Water in the arid land was scarce. Jacob's well
was located in a strategic fork of the road between Samaria and Galilee. One
can live without food for several days, but not without water. Water is a
source of life and growth for all living things. When rain came to the desert,
the water transformed the wasteland into a fertile field.
The kind of water which Jesus spoke about was living,
running, fresh, pure water. Fresh water from a cool running stream was always
preferred to the still water one might find in a pool or resevoir. When the
Israelites complained about lack of water in the wilderness, God instructed
Moses to strike the rock and a stream of fresh living water gushed out
(Exodus17:6 ). Even though the Israelites did not trust God to care for them in
the wilderness, God, nonetheless gave them abundant water and provision through
the intercession of his servant Moses.
The image of "living water" is used
throughout the scriptures as a symbol of God's wisdom, a wisdom that imparts
life and blessing to all who receive it. "The teaching of the wise is a fountain
of life" (Proverbs 13:14). "Living water" was also a
symbol for the Jews of thirst of the soul for God. The water which Jesus spoke
of symbolized the Holy Spirit and his work of recreating us in God's image and
sustaining in us the new life which comes from God. The life which the Holy
Spirit produces in us makes us a "new creation" in Jesus Christ (2
Corinthians 5:17). Do you thirst for God and for the life of the Holy Spirit
within you?
Hippolytus (170-236 AD), an early Christian writer and
theologian who lived in Rome, explains the significance of the Holy Spirit's
work in us:
"This is the water of the Spirit: It
refreshes paradise, enriches the earth, gives life to living things. It is the
water of Christ's baptism; it is our life. If you go with faith to this
renewing fountain, you renounce Satan your enemy and confess Christ your God.
You cease to be a slave and become an adopted son. You come forth radiant as
the sun and brilliant with justice. You come forth a son of God and fellow-heir
with Christ." (From a sermon, On the Epiphany)
Basil the Great (330-379
AD), a great early Christian teacher and Greek bishop of Caesarea, speaks
in a similar manner:
"The Spirit restores paradise to us
and the way to heaven and adoption as children of God; he instills confidence
that we may call God truly Father and grants us the grace of Christ to be
children of the light and to enjoy eternal glory. In a word, he bestows the
fullness of blessings in this world and the next; for we may contemplate now in
the mirror of faith the promised things we shall someday enjoy. If this is the
foretaste, what must the reality be? If these are the first fruits, what must
be the harvest?" (From the treatise, The Holy Spirit)
"Lord Jesus, my soul
thirsts for you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may always find joy in
your presence and take delight in doing your will."
A Daily Quote for Lent: The Living Water of the Spirit, by John
Chrysostom, 347-407 AD
Sometimes Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit
"fire," other times it calls it "water." In this way, it
shows that these names are not descriptive of its essence but of its operation.
For the Spirit, which is invisible and simple, cannot be made up of different
substances... In the same way that he calls the Spirit by the name of
"fire," alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace and its
power of destroying sins, he calls it "water" in order to highlight
the cleansing it does and the great refreshment it provides those minds that
receive it. For it makes the willing soul like a kind of garden, thick with all
kinds of fruitful and productive trees, allowing it neither to feel despondency
nor the plots of Satan. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1)
SEVENTH
SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, MATTHEW 5:38-48
(Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, MATTHEW 5:38-48
(Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
KEY VERSE: "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (v 44).
TO KNOW: As Jesus continued his Sermon on the Mount, he cited the earliest known code of law --an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth (Lv 24:19-20). The law was known as the "Lex Talionis," which may be described as the law of "tit for tat." Its aim was the limitation of vengeance -- the punishment must fit the crime. Jesus abolished the old law and introduced a new law of love and non-retaliation. He said that it was no virtue to love only those who love you; nonbelievers could do as much. A disciple was to go an "extra mile" in response to another person's needs, even at one's own expense, and to give generously without expecting repayment. Jesus asked his disciples to imitate the perfect love of God who gave gifts of sun and rain to the just and unjust alike. He emphasized that no limits could be placed on Christian forgiveness. They must never seek retaliation for any insult no matter how hostile. Injured parties might have to force themselves to love their enemies, but the Lord would show them the way. The Christian must strive to love even those who persecuted them (Mt 5:11). On the cross, Jesus gave us the supreme example of enemy love when he asked God to forgive those who were putting him to death (Lk 23:34).
TO LOVE: Does capital punishment promote Jesus' teaching on non-violence or does it further the cycle of vengeance and retaliation?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to strive to imitate your perfect love.
Sunday 19 February 2017
Sun 19th. 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18. The Lord is kind and merciful—Ps 102(103):1-4, 8, 10,
12-13. 1 Corinthians 3:16-23. Matthew 5:38-48.
Readings
You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Scripture scholars sometimes refer to the
‘hard sayings’ of Jesus—aspects of his teaching which may, at first glance,
seem unduly demanding, even unreasonable. Matthew records a few of them in
today’s gospel. Do we respond to them, as many of Jesus’ disciples did on
another occasion, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ (Jn 6:60).
‘Does this offend you?’ Jesus asked them. Whilst we acknowledge that our
Christian faith is a gift of inestimable value, we must also acknowledge that
there is no such thing as ‘cheap grace’ (to borrow Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
phrase). The cost of discipleship is no less than everything. ‘From everyone to
whom much has been given, much will be required’ (Lk 12:48).
ST.
CONRAD OF PIACENZA
Conrad was born into a noble family in northern Italy. He married
the daughter of a nobleman, Euphrosyne.
One day, while he was hunting, Conrad ordered his attendants to
make a fire. The wind carried the flames, which set fire to nearby fields,
forests, towns and villages. Upon seeing this, Conrad ran away in fear.
Because he ran, an innocent man was convicted for spreading the
fire and was condemned to death as punishment.
Upon hearing of this, Conrad stepped forth to accept the blame,
saving the innocent man's life. He paid for the damaged property and he and his
wife gave everything they owned to the poor in recompense.
Conrad then left to join a group of Franciscan hermits, and his
wife joined the Poor Clares.
Word eventually spread of Conrad's holiness, piety and gift
of healing.
When many visitors began to destroy his life of silence and
solitude, he moved to Sicily where he lived and prayed as a hermit for 36
years.
Legends say that when the Bishop of Syracuse visited him, the
bishop asked Conrad if he had any food to offer guests. Conrad went to his cell
and returned with newly made cakes, which the bishop accepted as a miracle.
Conrad visited the bishop later to make a general confession to
him. As he arrived, Conrad was surrounded by fluttering birds.
Conrad died kneeling before a crucifix.
LECTIO DIVINA: 7TH SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME (A)
Lectio Divina:
Sunday, February 19, 2017
… But I tell you: Love your enemies
Matthew 5: 38-48
Matthew 5: 38-48
1. Opening prayer
Come, Lord,
May your breath blow as the spring
breeze
that makes life bloom
and opens up love;
or let it be as the hurricane that unleashes
unknown strength
and raises latent energies.
May your breath pass in our eyes
that makes life bloom
and opens up love;
or let it be as the hurricane that unleashes
unknown strength
and raises latent energies.
May your breath pass in our eyes
to open them up to farther and wider
horizons,
drawn by our Father’s hand.
May your breath pass on our saddened faces
to restore a smile again;
may it graze our tired hands to give
them new life
and make them able to work joyfully
for the Gospel’s sake.
May your breath pass since dawn
May your breath pass since dawn
holding fast all our days in a generous
impulse.
May your breath pass as night approaches
to keep us safe in your light
and in your enthusiasm.
May it pass and remain throughout all our life
to renew it and give it the true and profound dimensions:
May your breath pass as night approaches
to keep us safe in your light
and in your enthusiasm.
May it pass and remain throughout all our life
to renew it and give it the true and profound dimensions:
which are outlined in the Gospel of
Jesus.
2. READING
a) A key to the reading:
The seventh Ordinary Sunday,
unfortunately rarely celebrated, as it is inserted in the short period of time
between Christmas and Lent confronts us with one of the sharpest Gospel
passages, challenging and comforting at the same time, that a Christian can
meet: the closing words or "antithesis" of the Sermon on the Mount.
The first reading from Leviticus (19.1-2, 17-18), is a piece of the "law of holiness." It relates directly to the second part of the Gospel text, with the command to love our neighbor and closely parallels with the last sentence of the words of the Lord.
The first reading from Leviticus (19.1-2, 17-18), is a piece of the "law of holiness." It relates directly to the second part of the Gospel text, with the command to love our neighbor and closely parallels with the last sentence of the words of the Lord.
The second reading (1 Cor 3.16 to 23)
shows a further development of the theme of the Gospel: the path of Christian
holiness, as far as humanly paradoxical and difficult to understand and put
into practice, becomes possible by virtue of our mutual belonging to God. We
are consecrated to Him and He has given himself completely to us through love;
making us capable of loving like He does, of loving because of him and in him.
Our passage belongs to the so called
“Sermon on the Mount” and is the first of the great speeches of Jesus that
characterizes the first Gospel and includes chapters 5 to 7. This long speech,
beginning with the most known and always provocative Beatitudes, can be read in
the light of Jesus’ statement on the full completion of the Law: " Do not
think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I came not to abolish
them but to fulfill them…
For I tell you that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you
will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (5,17.20).
Our passage belongs to the second
section of the sermon, the one exposing the “new ethic”, which comes to give
fullness and perfection to the ethic based on the law given by Moses. This new
ethic is characterized by statements beginning with the words: “But I tell
you”; these statements lead us from the words of the Law or from a way to apply
it to a new ethic law, which does not abolish the old Law, but gives it a new
interpretation, in the light of our human interiority, in which God dwells as
our Master and living example. In this way Jesus comes under our eyes and is
presented to us by the Evangelist as a imitator of Moses, one who has in
himself the same authority as the great leader of the Jewish people.
The verses of the Gospel this Sunday are
the last verses of this section with the two last “anti-thesis” or
“hyper-thesis”, which are strictly bound and have the strength to express the
highest moral wisdom, based on the most pure and deep faith in God as Father
and almighty and merciful Lord.
In light of the other readings of this
Sunday's celebration, the strong ethical demands of Jesus that we hear today
are to be seen not as the result of a heroic attitude, but rather as the result
of a full Christian life of high quality
and more conforming to the “image of the
Son” (Rom 8:29).
b) The text: Matthew 5:
38-48
38 "You have heard that it was said, `Eye for eye,
and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an
evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other
also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take
your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If
someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give
to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow
from you. 43 "You have heard that it was said,
`Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I
tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that
you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil
and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If
you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your
brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be
perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
3. Moment of Slience
So that the Word of God may penetrate in
our hearts and enlighten our life.
4. For those who wish to go
deeper into the theme
We start from the premise that the Sermon
on the Mount is not a "law according to cases", that is the
enumeration of "ethical cases" with the solution best suited to each.
On the contrary, as it has been well expressed by the scholar J. Ernst:
"Considered as ethical rules, such requests (those inserted in the Sermon
on the mount) are totally meaningless. Their significance is to be found in the
role they play as signs and directions. In fact they want to draw our attention
in a drastic way on the new era of salvation, which began with Jesus. The
commandment of love has now acquired an ultimate radical stress.
Matthew 5.38: Jesus' exhortation starts
from the "law of retaliation" (eye for an eye), which is a rule born
from the civil law to prevent immoderate revenges, especially if hyperbolic; revenges
that are to be limited according to a criterion of just balance between the
evil committed and the evil given back and, above all, these revenges must be
ruled within a judicial sphere.
Matthew 5.39 a: Jesus clear intent is
not the condemnation of the ancient "eye for an eye" with all its
rigors. He intends to suggest to us an approach for practical life, in
accordance with the infinite goodness and mercy of our heavenly Father as a
general attitude of life, made possible by the proclamation of the kingdom. The
disciples of Jesus must be guided by a criterion that exceeds, by virtue of an
overflowing love, the natural inclination to demand the absolute respect of
one’s rights. Those who belong to Jesus must live according to
generosity: spending one’s life for others, forgetting their own
interests, free from meanness, being benevolent, forgiving, giving proof of
greatness of soul. This is a practical, and really radical way to interpret the
beatitude of the meek (Matt. 5, 5).
5.39 b-42: Here are a few examples of
magnanimity (that is to have a “animus magnus – a soul wide opened”) that
should characterize the Christian, who is called to give more than it is
required or claimed by him. Of course, this is not an absolute law, which would
upset the socially accepted way of life, but it is a way to show the spirit of
love even towards those who have done something bad.
The underlying message contained in these so well known examples corrects deeply the message contained in the "law of retaliation" (eye for an eye) and cannot be properly understood, except in the light of it.
The believer is called to interpret every situation, even those presenting very serious difficulties, in terms of the love of God which he has already received, making a radical leap in the approach: no more retaliation or revenge, nor the defense of himself and of his rights, even though appropriate, but the search for the good of everyone, even those who do evil. In this way one becomes free from the chain of revenge or even violence, which could become endless, to get justice by oneself, risking to fall into the spiral of evil under the influence of excessive zeal. It is on God’s justice, which is always better, that we have to rely.
The underlying message contained in these so well known examples corrects deeply the message contained in the "law of retaliation" (eye for an eye) and cannot be properly understood, except in the light of it.
The believer is called to interpret every situation, even those presenting very serious difficulties, in terms of the love of God which he has already received, making a radical leap in the approach: no more retaliation or revenge, nor the defense of himself and of his rights, even though appropriate, but the search for the good of everyone, even those who do evil. In this way one becomes free from the chain of revenge or even violence, which could become endless, to get justice by oneself, risking to fall into the spiral of evil under the influence of excessive zeal. It is on God’s justice, which is always better, that we have to rely.
St. Paul expresses this very well:
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the
eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it
depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take
revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:
"It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something
to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. "(Rom 12.17-21).
The interpretation of these living standards can be found in the general attitude and in several specific episodes of the Passion of Jesus: when he reacts with calmness and firmness to the beatings during the process held by the Jews (Jn 18:23), when he doesn’t flee from being arrested and prevents Peter to fight for him (Jn 18.4 to 10), when he forgives those who crucified him (Luke 23:34) and takes the thief in paradise (Luke 23.40-43). And we know that the key to understanding the passion of Jesus is God's love for humanity (Jn 13:1, 15:13).
A hero of nonviolence, Martin Luther King, wrote: "The oceans of history are made turbulent by the flow of always insurrecting revenge. Man never raised above the commandment of the lex talionis: "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." In spite of the fact that the law of revenge does not solve any social problem, people continue to pursue his disastrous leadership. The story echoes the noise of the ruin of nations and individuals who have followed this self-destructive path. Jesus from the cross stated eloquently a higher law. He knew that the old law eye for an eye would make all blind, and did not try to overcome evil with evil: he won the evil with good. Crucified by hate he responded with aggressive love.
The interpretation of these living standards can be found in the general attitude and in several specific episodes of the Passion of Jesus: when he reacts with calmness and firmness to the beatings during the process held by the Jews (Jn 18:23), when he doesn’t flee from being arrested and prevents Peter to fight for him (Jn 18.4 to 10), when he forgives those who crucified him (Luke 23:34) and takes the thief in paradise (Luke 23.40-43). And we know that the key to understanding the passion of Jesus is God's love for humanity (Jn 13:1, 15:13).
A hero of nonviolence, Martin Luther King, wrote: "The oceans of history are made turbulent by the flow of always insurrecting revenge. Man never raised above the commandment of the lex talionis: "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." In spite of the fact that the law of revenge does not solve any social problem, people continue to pursue his disastrous leadership. The story echoes the noise of the ruin of nations and individuals who have followed this self-destructive path. Jesus from the cross stated eloquently a higher law. He knew that the old law eye for an eye would make all blind, and did not try to overcome evil with evil: he won the evil with good. Crucified by hate he responded with aggressive love.
What a wonderful lesson! Generations
will rise and fall, man will continue to worship the god of vengeance and
prostrate before the altar of retaliation, but then more and more this noble
lesson of Calvary will be an urgent warning that only goodness can eliminate
the evil and only love can overcome hate. "(The power of love, Società
Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1994, p. 65).
Matthew 5.43: The Old-Testament
commandment that Jesus quotes is the result of the combination of a quote from
Leviticus (19:18) and the extrabiblical words "and hate your enemy"
that come from a totally negative attitude towards the Gentiles, seen as
enemies of God and, therefore, as enemies of the people of God and as such they
had to be rejected in any way, in order to avoid the infection of their
idolatry and immorality.
Matthew 5.44 a: The evangelist uses,
significantly, the verb agapao to indicate the Christian duty to love the
enemies far beyond any general rule and any kind of friendship. This is the
most typical verb expressing God’s attitude towards men and men’s attitude
towards God and his fellows: a radical will of free goodness and
self-giving.
This precept, completely new and shocking in many ways, completes the previous teachings of Jesus and refers to the "superabundant justice" from which began the Sermon on the Mount. It is up to this very lofty goal that he wanted to bring his disciples: "Love your enemies."
This precept, completely new and shocking in many ways, completes the previous teachings of Jesus and refers to the "superabundant justice" from which began the Sermon on the Mount. It is up to this very lofty goal that he wanted to bring his disciples: "Love your enemies."
The
enemies we are talking about here, specifically, are the persecutors, pagans,
idolaters, those who most directly contrasted the Christian ideal, thus
constituting a threat to faith. However, they are the prototype and the symbol
of each enemy. To them the Christian should use the same kindness that he has
with his brothers in faith. Not only tolerance, love or friendship in general,
but deep and disinterested love of self that the believer can only draw from
the heart of God and learn from his example, as seen in the creation and
history of the universe.
Matthew 5.44 b: «" Love and pray,
love up to pray. " It is the supreme gift that can be done to the enemy,
because it puts in place the maximum internal energy: the power of faith. It's
easier to offer a gesture of external aid or relief than to desire intimately,
in one’s heart and in truth, the good of the enemy, as much as to make it the
theme and the intention of the prayer before God. If you pray for him, asking
for him graces and blessings, it means that you desire and want what is good
for him. This is to be sincere in love. Prayer is the Christian’s reward to the
blames of the enemy "(OP).
Matthew 5.45: Jesus explains why we
should love our enemies. The filiation He is talking about in this passage does
not cancel that by creation or adoption, but it is primarily the one of the
similarity of our feelings with those of God.
The Christian must imitate in his
everyday life the goodness of his heavenly Father.
So, when he loves his enemy, he becomes
child of the Heavenly Father, because it is the result of the desire to love
like He does.
Of course, the identity of the children
of God is not static, but emerges from a dynamic process. Those who are
children of God by Baptism, become fully his children living and growing in the
same logic of the Father, also making gestures of love that reveal his
likeness to God. Since God is good and fair, his sons are good and fair, able
to regulate their own love not according to the merits of others, but according
to the love and care that each living being receives constantly by God.
The more one lets himself be shaped by
the grace of God, the more he can put into practice this commandment, and the
more the Holy Spirit will bear witness to his spirit that he is the son of God
(cf. Rom 8:16).
Matthew 5.46-47: the real difference
between Christians and other men is the attitude and the capacity to love even
those who would be "naturally" not lovely.
Matthew 5.48: Perfect (teleios,
complete, accomplished - in this case, complete in love).
Again Jesus links the commandment of love for the enemy with his Father's example, with the actions that He accomplishes daily for the benefit of all and which are the fruit of his heart full of love, that He, the Son, knows deeply. This is the heart of Christian morality which is not a law to observe, but is a communion of life with this Father given by the Holy Spirit, "the law of the Spirit who gives life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2).
In this communion, the Christian absorbs the love of the Father, a love that aims to change enemies into friends, changing the bad and making them become good.
Again Jesus links the commandment of love for the enemy with his Father's example, with the actions that He accomplishes daily for the benefit of all and which are the fruit of his heart full of love, that He, the Son, knows deeply. This is the heart of Christian morality which is not a law to observe, but is a communion of life with this Father given by the Holy Spirit, "the law of the Spirit who gives life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2).
In this communion, the Christian absorbs the love of the Father, a love that aims to change enemies into friends, changing the bad and making them become good.
Isaac of Nineveh, commenting v. 45, states: "By the Creator there is no change, or intention that is before or after, in his nature, there is no hatred or resentment, or smaller or bigger place in his love, either after or first in his knowledge. In fact, if everyone believes that the creation has begun as a result of goodness and love of the Creator, we know that this plea does not change or decreases in the Creator, as a result of a disorder in his creation.
It would be odious and blasphemous to claim that in God exist hatred or resentment – not even for the demons - or to imagine any other weakness or passion ... On the contrary, God acts with us in ways that are advantageous for us; either causes of pain or relief for us, of joy or sadness, insignificant or glorious. All of them are oriented towards the same eternal Goods "(Discourse, Part 2, 38.5 and 39.3).
5. Questions for reflection:
to help us in our personal reflection
and meditation.
- I stop, Do I know that these words are for me, today?
- I stop, Do I know that these words are for me, today?
Do I know that Jesus speaks to me in the
situation that I live in this particular moment in my life?
- Do I take very seriously the words of the gospel?
- How do I live these high and yet unavoidable ethical standards?
"I tell you: Do not resist an evil person "
"If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also"
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"
"Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
- I examine myself: What are my models of conduct when I am in difficult situations?
- Do I take very seriously the words of the gospel?
- How do I live these high and yet unavoidable ethical standards?
"I tell you: Do not resist an evil person "
"If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also"
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"
"Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
- I examine myself: What are my models of conduct when I am in difficult situations?
When I feel attacked or treated
unfairly?
- And when I feel the lack of love of others or their aversion to me, how do I react?
- And when I feel the lack of love of others or their aversion to me, how do I react?
Which pattern does my action follow in
this situations?
- In my prayer do I put myself in front of the example of Jesus?
- In my prayer do I put myself in front of the example of Jesus?
Am I able to watch at least a little to
the Father who is a merciful Father of all beings in the universe and keeps all
in existence?
- It's time to take another step forward in the way I act: I invoke the Holy Spirit, so that he may shape my interior according to the image of Jesus, making me able to love others like him and because of him!
- It's time to take another step forward in the way I act: I invoke the Holy Spirit, so that he may shape my interior according to the image of Jesus, making me able to love others like him and because of him!
6. ORAZIONE
The Word of God offers us a magnificent
hymn for our prayer.
The beauty and timeliness of the famous
"hymn to love" (1 Cor 13,1-9.12 b-13) become even stronger for us if,
when we pray, we replace the word "charity"with the name of Jesus,
who is divine love incarnate, and who is a true reflection of the Father’s love
for all His creatures:
If I speak in the tongue of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging
cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can
fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I
give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have
not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It
is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love
never fails.
But where there are prophecies, they
will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is
knowledge, it will pass away.
Now I know in part; then I shall know
fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these
three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love
7. FINAL PRAYER
O God, in your Son, stripped and
humiliated on the cross, you have revealed the strength of your love, open our
hearts to the gift of your Spirit and provide that, accepting him, might be
broken within us the chains of violence and hatred that bind us to the
lifestyle of those who do not know you, so that through the victory of good
over evil we may manifest our identity of God’s children and bear witness to
your Gospel of reconciliation and peace.
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