First reading: Lv. 19: 1-2, 17-18
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the whole Israelite
community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy. You shall not bear hatred for your brother in
your heart. Though you may have to
reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against
your fellow countrymen. You shall love
you neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.’”
Second reading: 1 Cor. 3: 16-23
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you? If
anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of
God, which you are, is holy.
“Let no one deceive himself.
If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a
fool so as to become wise. For the
wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their own
ruses,’ And again: ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of
the wise, that they are vain.’ So let no one boast about human beings, for everything
belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Kephas, or the world or life or death, or
the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to
God.”
Gospel reading: Mt. 5: 38-48
“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 to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over a tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him 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 you 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 you heavenly Father is perfect.”
Introductory theme summary:
Clearly, the running theme for today’s readings relates to us
being holy as God is holy, thus we are reminded of the need to avoid sin, even,
and most importantly, in circumstances where our fellow brothers and sisters
sin against us because that is how we show ourselves to be true children of God.
Reflection:
Paul gives us the image of being the temple of God to stress
our unique dignity in all creation. He
does so in the context of instructing us on our responsibility to ourselves in
regard to that dignity. We are the ones
who are being charged with the responsibility for not destroying our own
representation as the temple of God.
There is only one way for us to do that and that is to perpetuate a life
of sin by neglecting to repent our sins and sinfulness. Simply committing a sin is not the issue, but
rather the complete disregard for the perpetual need for repentance, whenever
we do sin, in order to continue the reformation of our lives to convey the
holiness of being a temple of God, is.
However we may fall, we must never throw in the towel and give up, or
worse, rationalize our sins as if to excuse ourselves from that responsibility.
The most important aspect of this observation concerns our
relationships with those who could rightly be consider our enemies. They distinguish themselves as such by deliberately
set themselves against our ways of faith without us having done anything to
provoke them, other than simply practice our faith. It is never justifiable to oppose anyone
simply because of faith. Even should one
disagree on any of the many principals of faith, a respectful acknowledgement of
difference in order to foster a mutually accepting environment is still
required by everyone. No one can claim
an authentic faith in God without also perpetuating peace. This should be a condition for all claims of
faith to be considered authentic in any religion.
When faced with these great challenges, we are given the
rare opportunity to participate in furthering the salvation of the world. As Catholics we recognize that the Lord
sacrifice on the cross is a continuous one, and when we are confronted with
these opportunities to suffer as he did, we can join our sufferings with his
and, as Paul says,[1]
make up for what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. When we do this we are fulfilling our role as
a member of His Body, and there-by show ourselves as true children of God. This is why ‘true’ children of God must: turn the other cheek, give up
their coat, go the extra mile, give when asked, and lend if compelled so. In all ways we are to show ourselves to be
truly like God who provides for the life of all, even the evil and disobedient.
Come, let us be true children of God and accept the
responsibility to live our faith, even in these greatest of challenges.
[1][1]
Col. 1: 24 “In my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is
the Church.”
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