First Reading: (1 Corinthians 8:1–13)
Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 139)
Guide me, O Lord, along the everlasting way.
Gospel Acclamation:
If we love one another, God remains in us, and God's love is brought to perfection in us.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: (Luke 6:27–38)
Reflection
In the first reading today, St. Paul is addressing a problem internal to the Christian community at Corinth that has implications for us 2,000 years later.
The principal issue is whether or not Christians should buy and eat meat of animals that were sacrificed to pagan gods. Often, the inner entrails of the animal is what interested the pagan priests in their worship, and the carcass was discarded and sold at a cheaper price. So Paul asks the question: Because these gods are not really gods at all, can a Christian believer buy this cheaper meat for food?
But then, if my neighbor can't see this distinction and thinks this meat is blasphemous, I run the risk of giving scandal to my neighbor for whom Christ died.
So St. Paul reminds the Corinthians, and indeed us today, that we must think of the consequences of our actions, that they may not scandalize or offend other members of the community, and not just think of or please ourselves.
Then the Gospel is a collection of radical statements that turn old moral norms on their heads and call for a whole new way of thinking and relating. They culminate with the command to love your enemy and to pray for those who persecute you. A tall order indeed.
But you know, it wasn't just an aspiration in Jesus's life. He didn't just preach it; he did it.
I heard this story and it's beautiful in this context of today’s reflection. There was a man in the neighborhood who was always bragging about his care for children. And one day, he got a new cement driveway. It was poured, and before he got home, some of the local kids left their footprints and even wrote their names in the cement.
The man went into a charade. He was yelling at the top of his voice. And one of the neighbors said to him, “I thought you said you love children.”
And the man said, “Well, I love them in the abstract, but I'm not sure about in the concrete.”
Abstract, concrete. A cheap line, I know. Forgive me.
But Jesus lived. He lived what he preached. He lived it concretely.
Did we ever notice that the Ten Commandments are stated negatively? They tell us what not to do as opposed to what we could or should do.
You shall not kill.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness.
You shall not.
But Jesus's ethic is positive. It goes: Turn the other cheek. Give to the one in need. Walk the other mile. Forgive those who harm you. Love your enemies. Positive things.
There are important truths in today's Gospel.
Think of the energy we waste in holding on to past grudges, trying to settle old scores. We may wait a long time to settle the score, but waiting will have diminished us and the quality of our lives.
Revenge doesn't add to our stature. Plotting revenge poisons our heart. It consumes and overtakes us. It closes us down. It makes us mean and hard.
The lack of generosity, the meanness of spirit that is so visible in our world today is what Jesus is trying to eliminate from our lives.
The reluctance to forgive and the rush to judgment were not just confined to his time. They are alive and well in our culture too.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Jesus advises us to love our enemies. Love frees. It opens us up. It makes us generous and warm.
We know from experience that planning occasions for one can show love, bring us great joy. It completes us, brings out the best in us and in those around us.
Pray for those who persecute you.
Jesus says, I often say that when we pray for somebody, we are less likely to kill them. Am I right?
Let's go back to the concrete.
Most of us have people against whom, rightly or wrongly, we bear a grudge or hold a hurt. Sometimes we pick at the sore in case it might heal.
So today let's us bring to mind somebody who annoys or upsets, somebody we dislike, or perhaps, dare I say, even hate. Pray for him or her.
And ask for God's healing, God's bound to soothe the relationship. Let love prevail.
And the Lord Jesus assures us we will feel better for it.
With confidence, we make our prayers to God the Father.
Amen
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