SEVENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, FEBRUARY 23RD 2014

February 23^rd 2014. SEVENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL Matthew 5:38-48

Jesus said to his disciples: 'You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.

'You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . This Gospel appears to make impossible demands on us! We are asked to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, offer no resistance when we are the victims of injustice. In summary, we are asked to be holy as God is holy. But how are we expected to become like God? Surely there is a huge chasm between us and God? Curiously, sin is our attempt to become like God. It is nothing to do with being holy and instead is our disobedient insistence on being the masters of our own destiny. The serpent in Eden told Eve that she could become like God. But our way of acting God is completely different to God’s way! If injustice is done to us, we react violently. We demand the respect of others by shouting aloud and asserting our rights. This Gospel, by contrast, points out a different way in which we can uphold our dignity and become like God. No person has greater freedom than a person who has the capacity to forgive others; no person is more autonomous than one who is able to repay the insults of others with kindness. But how are we to achieve this state of holiness or perfection? The key to the Gospel is the phrase, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The fact is that we have already experienced perfection in our lives. We have experienced the perfect love, tenderness and mercy of God towards us. This is the foundation of our capacity to love and forgive others, even our enemies. If I am unable to be merciful, it is because I have not contemplated and experienced the mercy of God for me. Loving one’s enemies is not a matter of a steely resolve of the will! Christianity is not simply a moral code! With my own will and determination I can achieve nothing. It is only when we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, when we are filled with the contemplation of God’s love and forgiveness, that we can hope to be loving and forgiving towards others.


The Gospel echoes the sentiments of the first reading, with one huge difference . . .
The first reading from the Book of Leviticus is the perfect preparation for reading the Gospel this Sunday.  The first reading begins with the words of God to Moses: “Speak to the whole community of the sons of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy’”. The Gospel ends with almost the same phrase: “Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect”. It is clear that the notion of holiness includes the notion of perfection within it - if one is holy then one is also perfect. But there is also a huge difference between the phrases. The Old Testament text tells us to be holy like God, whilst Jesus exhorts us to be perfect like our Father. The God of the Old Testament is our master and Lord, but a father is someone who has a relationship of intimacy with us.

Does this Gospel make impossible demands on us?
The Gospel this Sunday takes us into one of the highest and most paradoxical of Christian doctrines - love for one’s enemies. “If anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. . .  .  . love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven”. All of these descriptions concern injustices and hurts that are perpetrated on us by our neighbour. Jewish law stipulated that a servant could only be ordered to carry goods a certain distance for their master. The text refers to someone who ignores the law and demands that we carry goods an inhuman distance. This injustice, aggression, and violence is the very face of evil. And how are we to respond to evil? With love. But how is it humanly possible to repay evil with love? Surely this Gospel is making impossible demands on us!

Sin is the attempt to become like God by being masters of our own destiny. But we can really can become like God if we follow the way of love
There is a qualitative difference between God and humanity, so how can we humans possibly hope to be holy in the same way that God is holy? Sin is the effort by humanity to cross this divide and become like God, the master of his own destiny. We try to cross the chasm to God by illegitimate means, but, curiously, the distance between us and God is nullified by another means entirely. The serpent tempted Eve to do that which was forbidden and become like God. But we can become like God when we become his children. The way to become holy as God is holy is the way of love. Sin is the great usurper that tells us that we can become like God by focussing entirely on ourselves. We can attain the esteem of others with violence and aggression. If someone is disrespectful to us then sin tells us to react violently and force other people to consider us. In this way - sin tells us - our dignity is upheld. But the Gospel tells us that through love we attain a dignity of a much higher sort than that which can be coerced from others, the dignity of children of God. No person has greater freedom than a person who has the capacity to forgive others; no person is more autonomous than he who is able to repay the insults of others with kindness; no person is more liberated from servitude than the person who is free from interior anger and bitterness. But how are we to achieve this state of holiness or perfection?

I can live this life of perfection if I immerse myself in the perfect love, mercy and forgiveness that God has manifested towards me
The message of this Gospel is not that we must get our lives in order and start acting in the way that Jesus describes. We are simply not capable of getting out of bed in the morning and deciding that today we are going to love our enemies. The key to this Gospel is the phrase, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The fact is that our heavenly Father has already manifested this perfection in his relationship with us. God has already done wonderful things for me. My capacity to love my enemies, forgive those who offend me, pray for those who persecute me, springs not from me but from my relationship with God. If I wish to forgive my enemy, then it is not a matter of steeling myself and focussing on the relationship between my enemy and me; I must focus on how God has treated me. The relationship that I have with others must be lived completely in the light of my relationship with God. If I am impatient with others it is because I have not contemplated and experienced the patience of God with me. If I am not merciful towards others it is because I have not opened my heart to the tenderness and mercy of the Lord towards me. It is in God that we discover the solution to all of our conflicts, not in steely resolutions to “behave better”. It is only in God that this kind of perfection can be lived.

Christianity is not a moral code. The source of Christian perfection is not located in lofty resolutions to do good, but in the perfect goodness and love that the Lord has bestowed on us

Do we really think that we can manage to do it all by ourselves? There is a constant tendency to try to turn Christianity into a moral code. But how can we hope to live this high moral code of loving our enemy if the Holy Spirit is not in our hearts? How can we forgive if we do not focus on the manner in which God has forgiven us? In the wonderful Gospel of this Sunday, let us contemplate the foundation of holiness and perfection. This high moral capacity is either rooted in God or rooted in us. But of ourselves we can do nothing! In God is the source of mercy, compassion, and love for enemies.