February
19, 2017
7th Sunday
OT
Leviticus
19:1–2, 17–18; 1 Corinthians 3:16–23; Matthew 5:38–48
One of the
popular cartoon series during my childhood days was “Popeye the Sailor Man.” The story of Popeye varies but the plot is
always the same: Popeye and Olive happily living together and then suddenly the
villain Brutus comes along and beats up Popeye. Popeye eats spinach to become
strong, he flexes his muscles and defeats Brutus with a punch. It is obvious that the way how Popeye deals
with his enemy Brutus is different from the way how Jesus deals with people who
hurt him. Jesus tells us in today’s gospel: “love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you.” What does he
mean by these words?
Let
us reflect on this in three points:
JESUS
IS TELLING US NOT TO RECIPROCATE EVIL WITH EVIL. The
Old testament law “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is actually meant
not to promote revenge but to promote justice. We need to understand that prior
to this law, retaliation at that time knows no limit. If someone has wounded
me, I can retaliate to the point that I can kill the person. The punishment was
not commensurate to the injury done. This OT law was therefore meant to
restrain one’s impulse for vengeance and unnecessary bloodshed. But Jesus in
today’s gospel goes beyond this law. He tells us not to reciprocate evil with
evil. Because if we keep on doing that, the vicious cycle of violence will
never end. We conquer evil not by another evil but by goodness. Mahatma Gandhi
once said, “If we live by an ‘eye for an eye’ and a ‘tooth for a tooth’ kind of
justice, the whole world would be blind and toothless today!” How then should
we deal with people who hurt us? Jesus says: “love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you.”
JESUS
ENCOURAGES US TO BE INCLUSIVE IN OUR WAY OF LOVING. We have just celebrated Valentine’s
Day last week. If you look at the list of persons
who received gifts from you, I am sure your enemies are not included
in the list. How can you give a Valentine gift to your enemy? How can
you be good to your enemy? That is absurd. That is foolishness – according to
the wisdom of the world that Paul refers to in the second reading. My dear
friends, it is really very difficult to love our enemies. The wisdom of the
world labels it as foolishness. But in the eyes of God: being good to our enemies,
loving them, praying for them is not foolishness. The invitation of Jesus for us
then is to be inclusive in our way of loving: loving not only those who are good to
us, not only those who belong to our group, but to love even those whom we find it
very difficult to love.
BE
COMPASSIONATE AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS COMPASSIONATE. When
Jesus in gospel says, be perfect as your heavenly
Father is perfect, he is telling us to imitate the inclusive love of
God the Father. God does
not exclude from his love those who hurt him. God does not exclude
from His love the sinners. God does not exclude from His love his
enemies. The gospel affirms this when Jesus said: God created the sun to shine not
only for the good people but even for bad ones. Rain comes down not only for
just ones but for everyone. The more inclusive we are in our loving, the more we
become perfect and compassionate like our Heavenly Father.
My dear friends, we are not followers of Popeye the Sailorman. We are followers of Christ. Let us beg the Lord in this mass for the grace to be compassionate just as our heavenly Father is compassionate. May this grace strengthen us to reciprocate evil with goodness and to be inclusive in our way of loving. Amen.
My dear friends, we are not followers of Popeye the Sailorman. We are followers of Christ. Let us beg the Lord in this mass for the grace to be compassionate just as our heavenly Father is compassionate. May this grace strengthen us to reciprocate evil with goodness and to be inclusive in our way of loving. Amen.
