7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

Jealous over David’s rise in power, Saul continues to hunt him down. More than 10 chapters earlier, the prophet Samuel told Saul that God was replacing him with another (15:28). This had to happen because Saul never placed any value on things spiritual. Respect for things spiritual, however, was precisely what made kingship in Israel distinctive; kingship in Israel was service to God first and foremost.

Luke’s Sermon on the Plain continues. Some commentators read this section as a profile of kingdom living. Thus, the challenges presented here by Jesus presuppose that one has a strong faith commitment to the kingdom of God. Piety and devotion are not mentioned, but strong admonitions repudiating acts of retaliation, retribution, and actions done solely for personal advantage are. Life in the kingdom of God differs greatly from life in Caesar’s kingdom.

The demands of love. In the Gospel, love is far more than an emotion. Jesus makes that very clear when he admonishes his followers to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them. More challenging yet is the fact that Jesus expects his disciples to put this mandate into practice. Not a philosophical or theological idea, it defines a way of living in the world under the guidance of the Gospel. The world, however, encourages conduct almost directly contrary to Jesus’ love ethic. The Gospel does not leave room for compromise.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. This is another version of the Golden Rule. By its nature, love stretches our level of acceptance. Gospel living does not advocate mutual admiration societies as the standard for loving one another. The real test of kingdom living is found in concrete examples of loving one’s enemies and doing good to them. This goes way beyond tolerating people who are different from ourselves. We are to live as children of the Most High. Luke captures this in the statement, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” This is quite different from Matthew’s, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48).

Stop judging. Here the emphasis is on acceptance and forgiveness of others. Luke is aware just how difficult it is to avoid judging others. Forgiveness is by no means an easy virtue. Jesus, however, slams the ball into our court. This final sentence says it all: “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” That measure is made in concrete actions. Our actions in the world will set the standard for how God will assess us in the end. That is how life in the kingdom of God works

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius