The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to start today reevaluating attitudes that encourage procrastination in our action to reach out with love to those who we see as enemies.
Action for Love
The reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians shares his experience in ministry that now is the acceptable time.
* [6:8b–10] A series of seven rhetorically effective antitheses, contrasting negative external impressions with positive inner reality. Paul perceives his existence as a reflection of Jesus’ own and affirms an inner reversal that escapes outward observation. The final two members illustrate two distinct kinds of paradox or apparent contradiction that are characteristic of apostolic experience.1
Psalm 98 praises the Judge of the World.
* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount teaches concerning retaliation.
* [5:38–42] See Lv 24:20. The Old Testament commandment was meant to moderate vengeance; the punishment should not exceed the injury done. Jesus forbids even this proportionate retaliation. Of the five examples that follow, only the first deals directly with retaliation for evil; the others speak of liberality.3
Scott McClure comments that while the world values people for their displays of power and possessions, Jesus contended that our true value is rooted in our being beloved and created children of God. When Jesus' followers absorb the truth of this reality, their appetites and actions change in a way that baffles the world. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians today, ...as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things. What seems incompatible in fact gives witness to the truth of what Jesus offers us. More than any word or argument, it is this witness that will show others what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and invite them into this way, this truth, and this life. By turning the other cheek, then, we are indeed making disciples.
It is hard to live in a world with such seeming incompatibilities. It creates tension. If we can open our eyes in our daily lives, however, to acknowledge these tensions, God will give us the grace to live with them and yet live in the truth he has shown us in Jesus. This will be our witness to the world and we will make disciples.4
Don Schwager reviews the intention behind the Mosaic Laws concerning treatment of offenders and quotes “You tear yourself apart by hating,” by an anonymous early author from the Greek church.
"We have seen how murder is born from anger and adultery from desire. In the same way, the hatred of an enemy is destroyed by the love of friendship. Suppose you have viewed a man as an enemy, yet after a while he has been swayed by your benevolence. You will then love him as a friend. I think that Christ ordered these things not so much for our enemies as for us: not because enemies are fit to be loved by others but because we are not fit to hate anyone. For hatred is the prodigy of dark places. Wherever it resides, it sullies the beauty of sound sense. Therefore not only does Christ order us to love our enemies for the sake of cherishing them but also for the sake of driving away from ourselves what is bad for us. The Mosaic law does not speak about physically hurting your enemy but about hating your enemy. But if you merely hate him, you have hurt yourself more in the spirit than you have hurt him in the flesh. Perhaps you don't harm him at all by hating him. But you surely tear yourself apart. If then you are benevolent to an enemy, you have rather spared yourself than him. And if you do him a kindness, you benefit yourself more than him." (excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 13, The Greek Fathers)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 comments that we human beings are prone to procrastinate, but that’s not God’s way. He revealed his name as I AM (Exodus 3:14)—not “I will be” or “I might be.” He lives with us in the present, doing his saving work right now, and he invites us to join him in that work.
Today, as Paul wrote, is the day of salvation...Today is the day that God is loving you...Today is the day that God wants to forgive you... Today is the day that God invites you to put him first in your life...Today is the day that God is bringing you closer to other believers in the body of Christ...Today is the day that God is pointing out people who need his love... “Thank you, Lord, for your presence in my life today. I don’t want to miss any opportunity to advance your saving work.”6
( Friar Jude Winkler’s podcast has some technical difficulties today)
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Holy or whole individuals, the ones we call “saints,” are precisely the ones who have no “I” to protect or project. Their “I” is in conscious union with the “I AM” of God, and that is more than enough. Divine union overrides any need for self-hatred or self-adoration. Such people do not need to be perfectly right, and they know they cannot be anyway, so they just try to be in right relationship. In other words, they try to be loving—above all else. (Adapted from Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Jossey-Bass: 2011), 131–133, 134.).
I am afraid that the closer we get to the Light, the more of our shadow we see. Thus, truly holy people are always humble people. Christians would have been done a great service if the shadow had been distinguished from sin. Sin and shadow are not the same. We were so encouraged to avoid sin that many of us instead avoided facing our shadow, and then we ended up “sinning” even worse—while unaware besides! As Paul taught, “The angels of darkness must disguise themselves as angels of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). The persona does not choose to see evil in itself, so it always disguises it as good. The shadow self invariably presents itself as something like prudence, common sense, and justice. It says, “I am doing this for your good,” when it is actually manifesting fear, control, manipulation, or even vengeance. Isn’t it fascinating that the name Lucifer literally means “light bearer”? The evil one always makes darkness look like light—and makes light look like darkness.7
Our journey will involve difficult relationships with people and our shadow side that we will attempt to address in the Spirit of Love.
References
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