Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48
Jesus said to his
disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone
strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to
go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone
press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks
of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that
it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to
you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be
children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the
good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those
who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the
same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not
the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is
perfect.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Are you capable of
not keeping hatred in your heart? For example, when somebody hurts you, are you
capable of not taking revenge? When someone strikes you on the right cheek
could you turn the other side as well? Are you capable of not refusing somebody
who wants to borrow from you? Can you love your enemies and can you still pray
for those who’ve been persecuting and hurting you?
Jesus in the gospel
gives us teachings that are very difficult for many of us to follow. We may
wonder, why these teachings are very hard for us to follow? This is so for the
reason that we are humans. We have our limitations we respond based on our limited
human instinct.
We normally
compartmentalize our fellowmen. For example we label them as those we hate and
those we do not hate. Those we love and those we do not love, those who are
good to us and those who are not good to us. Therefore, we respond to them
according to what they give us.
No comments:
Post a Comment