Reflection for February 23 Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 6:27-38

Gospel: Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. 

Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  

Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.  

“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

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Reflection:

How do you love? 

All of us will agree that we can easily love those who give us love in return. But are we willing to love those who have hurt us or those who continue to hurt us? Mother Teresa once said, “If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” 

A wife or husband who truly loves would continue to love their spouse despite the betrayal of their marriage covenant. Many marriages fail because we put limits on how we give love. For example, if a wife discovers that her husband is being unfaithful, her initial reaction might be to take revenge, to do the same, and to stop loving her philandering husband. But what will happen if our attitude is like that? There would be many broken marriages and many suffering children simply because we put limits on how we give our love. 

Jesus, in our Gospel, advises us to change this mindset of reactive love and to elevate our understanding of love to a much higher level—perhaps to the level of God’s love for us. But are we capable of raising our love and the way we give love to a higher level? 

If we truly love Jesus, we would be able to forgive and love again—even a spouse who has betrayed us. We would be able to love our siblings or relatives who have hurt us and refuse to listen to our well-meaning advice. We would be able to love a friend who has betrayed our trust. 

Jesus tells us in the Gospel: “For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same” (Luke 6:32-33). —Marino J. Dasmarinas