SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

[cappie]

From one end of the Bible to the other, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus is described as “a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment”  Psalm 86:15. As creatures created in the image of God, we are also meant to be merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.  This is what it means to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Jesus takes it even further in Luke 6: We are to turn the other cheek, offer our shirt with our coat, give to “everyone who asks of [us],” forgive, and treat others just as we would have them do unto us (Luke 6:27-38)!  

Jesus insists that it is in our best interest to do so. For if we do, the love, forgiveness, and mercy we shall give will be returned to us in “a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’ (Luke 6:38).

 The person you call your enemy is also suffering. As soon as you see that, the capacity of accepting and having compassion for him is there. Jesus called this ‘loving your enemy’. When you are able to love your enemy, he or she is no longer your enemy. The idea of enemy vanishes and is replaced by the notion of someone who is suffering and needs your compassion.    

 Jesus, much like the Hebrew Prophets,  says these seemingly impossible things to us to help us imagine ways to move beyond that which seems to be hopeless. The challenge of bridging our differences is not only possible but necessary. All this loving, doing good, and praying for others, especially others we do not like at all, and who often do not like us, is the only way forward.

And it all begins with us – with each of us, one at a time  .

If we are going to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, if we are to do to others as we would have them do to us, we need to begin loving ourselves. Then, and only then, can we begin to give up and let go of judging and condemning others. If we seek forgiveness, how much are we willing to forgive? Can we begin to forgive and love ourselves just a little bit more so that we might begin to love others, even our enemies and those who hate us, just a little bit more? We do not have to like them. We just need to do something helpful for them, something useful.  

If we take the first steps to love our enemies and those who hate us, Jesus tells us, “ You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked..” God’s mercy knows no bounds, no boundaries, no conditions.   We are to be merciful as God is merciful – in just the same measure as we want God to be merciful to us.

Jesus is really asking, “Do you want to spend all your energy hating your enemies? Or do you really want to follow me and become children of the Most High?” Can we begin today to take one small step toward the kind of reconciliation Jesus knows is the only way forward for us all? Can we begin to love our enemies and pray for those who hate us? And if not now, when? In today’s world, ‘loving your enemy’ is best expressed in terms of commitment to dialogue and mutual respect among peoples of diverse religions and cultures. This enables us to open our hearts to become people of love, service and compassion. 

This way, we allow God’s love to enter our lives and world, mindful of Jesus’ words: “The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back!”