HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Feb 23, 2025

282

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First Reading

A reading from the first Book of Samuel (26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23)

In those days, Saul went down to the desert of Ziph with three thousand picked men of Israel, to search for David in the desert of Ziph. So David and Abishai went among Saul's soldiers by night and found Saul lying asleep within the barricade, with his spear thrust into the ground at his head and Abner and his men sleeping around him.

Abishai whispered to David: "God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need a second thrust!" But David said to Abishai, "Do not harm him, for who can lay hands on the Lord's anointed and remain unpunished?" So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul's head, and they got away without anyone's seeing or knowing or awakening. All remained asleep, because the Lord had to put them into deep slumber.

Going across to an opposite slope, David stood on a remote hilltop at a great distance from Abner, Son of Ner, and the troops. He said: "Here is the King's spear. Let an attendant come over to get it. The Lord will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness. Today, though the Lord delivered you into my grasp, I would not harm the Lord's anointed."

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (103:1-2,3-4,8,10,12-13)

(R) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (R)

He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion. (R)

Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. Not according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to our crimes. (R)

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (15:45-49)

Brothers and sisters: It is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to 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 ask 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 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."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

Once an atheist asked a pastor whether he believed everything in the Bible is true. "Yes", the pastor said. "Do you obey everything Jesus taught?" the atheist asked. "I try", the pastor replied. "Do you believe Jesus' teaching in the gospel, "Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back", Luke (6:30). "Yes", the pastor said somewhat cautiously. "Good. If you believe that, then give me all the money in your bank account." The pastor didn't have much money. Yet, he couldn't just give away even what he had for no reason. So, he tried to give several excuses as to why he could not literally obey Jesus' command. "In that case you are a hypocrite", the atheist said.

If we define "hypocrite" as someone who fails to live up perfectly to what he or she believes or preaches, then we are all hypocrites. Perhaps we've all been guilty of hypocrisy at some point in our lives. Oftentimes we resolve not to be hypocrites, but we fail. We often ignore much of what Jesus teaches because they are hard. Sometimes, we do not even want to hear His teachings such as ones in today's gospel, Luke (6:27-38) which is a part of Jesus' important teachings known as the "Sermon on the Plain", similar to the "Sermon on the Mount" in the gospel of Matthew (5:1-7:27). After a night of praying on a mountainside and a morning spent on choosing his twelve disciples, Jesus began His sermon with the pronouncement of blessings on the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful, and the hated or persecuted, and woes on the rich, the well-fed, the well-off, and the well-liked, Luke (6:17-26). Here, Jesus reversed the world's way of looking at things and taught His followers that things operate differently in the kingdom of God.

In today's gospel text, we see Jesus challenging His followers to live a life that is radically different from others in the world and exhorting them to go beyond the social norm and to aim towards what God wants from them. Jesus began his preaching by saying, "To you who hear I say". By this Jesus meant that his teaching is for those who are truly willing to listen or pay attention and obey. Because His teaching would be too hard to swallow, John (6:60). He then gave them seven commands: "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. Turn the other cheek to the one who strikes you. Give generously to everyone who asks you. From the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back", Luke (6:27-30).

Here, we must first consider the context of these commands. In Jesus' time, the Jews, particularly the Scribes and the Pharisees were consistently abusing or misusing many of the Old Testament laws. One of them was the Law of retaliation or retribution that is found in the Book of Exodus: If there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise", Exodus (21:23-27). This law was intended to be a guiding principle for judges in the courts of law as well as it was meant to restrict revenge, not to exact revenge outside the courtroom. But some were misusing this law and teaching others to seek retribution themselves against those who wronged them. So, Jesus corrected the false understanding and teaching of the Pharisees and encouraged His followers to choose the heavenly or godly way of life instead. Jesus called them to love others including their enemies, do good to them, bless them, pray for them, give to them generously and freely, and not demand anything back from them. In other words, Jesus expected His followers to do whatever was necessary to motivate others, including their enemies, instead of seeking hateful vengeance on them.

To reinforce the importance of this teaching, Jesus issued the eighth command, commonly known as the "Golden Rule" or "Ethics of Reciprocity". He said, "Do to others as you would have them do to you", (v.31). By this Jesus meant that they must treat others as they wished to be treated, regardless of how others treated them. They were to respond to one another's desires and needs with respect, mercy, understanding, and generosity. Jesus then pointed out that there was nothing unusual in living according to the Golden Rule because even sinners, referring to "unbelievers" or those who had no concern for observing God's Laws, lived according to the same standards of "believers", that is, loving those who had loved them, doing good to those who did good to them, lending to those who could repay them. By making this observation, Jesus then raised the bar on the Golen Rule for "believers". As His followers, they were called to a higher standard, namely God's standard of love, a love that will require much greater effort on their part. They were to push themselves to be better, to do better, and to become better than sinners in every aspect of their lives. They were to love others without expecting anything in return, do good without thought of receiving good, and give without thought of repayment, just as God does to both "the ungrateful and the wicked", (vv.35-36).

Jesus further warned them not to judge, condemn, or withhold forgiveness because when they did so they would be treated in similar manner, (v.37). In other words, while judging, condemning, and forgiving others they were to be merciful just as God was to them. They were to treat them in the same way they desired to be judged, condemned and forgiven by God. Finally, Jesus assured them that their generosity toward others would bring abundant blessings; that is to say that whatever they gave would be given back to them, not just adequately but abundantly, (v.38).

What is the message for us?

As we live in a world of greed, inequality, injustice, discrimination, hatred, violence, revenge, and retribution, it is so tempting to simply adhere to the world's standards of behaviour. But Jesus does not want us, His believers, to be "of this world", i.e., following the unbelieving world's values, beliefs, and conduct. Instead of responding to hate with hate, Jesus calls us to a higher standard of life or Godly life by loving others, blessing them, doing good to them, praying for them, giving and offering them mercy and forgiveness, even to those who mistreat us without expecting anything in return. Certainly, this is no easy matter for it goes far beyond our human nature. It is so much easier, as Jesus says, to love those who love us back. But there is no point in that.
"God has chosen us and set us apart as His people" so that we can follow the model of God Himself and live radically differently from the rest of the word. By human standards, obeying the command of Jesus may seem an impossible and unachievable task. But, by God's grace, it is possible for us to see and love others as God does. However, it starts with believing in the kind of love, mercy and forgiveness that we ourselves have already received or experienced. So, first and foremost, we must truly believe that we are loved by God fully and unconditionally so that we can better love others without exception, without condition, and without limit. Because in the end, the measure we give will be the measure we get back. God has indeed shown us more mercy than we could ever deserve. "God has demonstrated His own love for us, for while we were still sinners, Christ died for us", Romans (5:8). Let us, therefore, prove our love for God by showing mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to those around us, the same way Christ has shown toward us. Let us love everyone, even those who are indifferent and hostile to us.
To love others, we don't have to be in love with them or be attracted to them or even like them. Love is more than romance or physical attraction or intimacy. Love is treating someone with utmost respect, empathy, trust and care regardless of who they are and their flaws, imperfections, or mistakes just as God loves each of us, good and evil, kind and cruel. Such love is called self-less, sacrificial, and unconditional love or agape in Greek. Let us do good to all even the undeserving. Let us not forget that there will be no mercy if we do not show mercy to others. But when we give kindness, mercy and love as freely, generously and genuinely as we have received them from God, God will be merciful when He judges us. When we love others like Christ did, we will experience the fullness of His love in return.

May the Lord help us to live out this radical love, so that the world may see Him and come to believe in Him through us!

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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