Sharing the Word – February-24-2019 – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Readings: First Reading: 1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23,
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49,
Gospel: Luke 6: 27-38

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic’. He goes further to say, ‘Treat others as you would like them to treat you’. In simple words, Jesus is asking us to show love to all.

Jesus is only re-echoing a simple principle. In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, we find already these words; ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’ and in the Book of Tobit, ‘What you do not wish to be done to you, do not do it to others’. This is in very simple words that do not need any explanations. This ‘Golden Principle’ as it has come to be known is quite normal. Jesus uses normalities to teach. What is wrong with us is that we like to be abnormal.

Going against this principle may mean the following; Should you steal from others, you should like to be robed. If you talk ill about others, you should like to be spoken ill of, if you blackmail others, gossip others, scorn them, hit them, you should like to be scorned, blackmailed, etc. This is not usually the case with us. Those who choose to do all these vices never want to be treated in the same manner. Jesus says loving is just not doing no harm to those who treat you badly, but doing so with love.

Quite often, we are subjects of ill-will, malice, despise,disgrace and even scorn. Jesus asks us to respond to all these with love, by not just getting rid of our anger, not just ceasing to be critical of our enemies, or by simply avoiding physical violence. All these should be done with love. God’s own love!

The first reading shows how this love should be. Saul is the King of Israel and David is being groomed for the next king. David is becoming more popular than Saul, just after conquering Goliath. Saul decides to kill David. While out to do battle with David, Saul falls asleep with all his guards. David gets right into his tent, gets all his weapons and could kill Saul in his sleep, but David decides to spare Saul’s life . When David goes off to a safe distance, he calls out and wakes Saul and all his guards, showing all Saul’s weapons in his hands and saying that he would kill him, if he wanted to, but he spared his life. Saul, seeing this gets converted and repents from his intentions to kill David. Love has to be selfless.

When your pursuers discover that you could have conquered them and you decided not to, they get even get more fierce and sometimes even shamelessly devise other means to continue to pursue you. God may still decide to trap them and leave them at your mercy. Show them God’s love, all the same!

Like David, Jesus tells us to love and be the first to take a loving step, not only responding to a loving act we may have received. I once witnessed two bossom friends in the village. Ngong and Chia approached the only provision store around the village corner. Ngong greeted the store keeper very courteously, but got a most discourteous service in return. Accepting his provisions, which were shoved rudely in his direction, Ngong still smiled and wished the storekeeper a nice day. The storekeeper hates Ngong, for whatever reason, God alone knows!

As the two friends walked away, Chia asked: ‘Does he always treat you so rudely like that?’. ‘Yes, unfortunately, he does’, Ngong replied. Are you always that friendly to him?’ Chia asked again. ‘ I always try to be’, Ngong replied. ‘Tell me then, why are you so kind to him when he is so rude to you?’, Chia went further. ‘Because I don’t want him to decide for me how I am going to act!’ Ngong retorted.

Ngong understands that he needs happy pleasant days and will not let his ‘enemy’ mar his day. If we let the wicked people influence our behaviour, we are under their control and of course we are their victims. When you try each time to give them, a reverse of what they expect, they are expected to behave like Saul in the first reading. Otherwise, there must be some insanity in them. At that level you should seek for safety. You need to.

Of course, the love Jesus demands is meant for all sane persons. However, no matter how unchristian another person may act towards us, we still have it in our power to act in a christian way towards him or her. This, after all, is what Jesus asks and expects of us.

A Little Prayer.

Father give us the wisdom and love you have revealed in your son, Jesus. Help us to be like him in word and deed. Amen!

Have a Blessed Week!
Bobe Talla Toh