The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our experiences of feeling unjustly persecuted or pressured to extend our actions beyond our comfort zone.
The reading from the First Book of Kings describes how Ahab and Jezebel acquire Naboth’s vineyard.
* [21:1–16] The story tells how Jezebel manipulates important structures of Israelite social order, law, and religious observance to eliminate a faithful Israelite landowner who frustrates Ahab’s will. (1 Kings, CHAPTER 21, n.d.)
Psalm 5 urges trust in God for deliverance from enemies.
* [Psalm 5] A lament contrasting the security of the house of God (Ps 5:8–9, 12–13) with the danger of the company of evildoers (Ps 5:5–7, 10–11). The psalmist therefore prays that God will hear (Ps 5:2–4) and grant the protection and joy of the Temple. (Psalms, PSALM 5, n.d.)
In the Sermon on the Mount, from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus 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. (Matthew, n.d.)
Tom Lenz comments that what Jesus seems to be saying in today’s gospel is “let go” – which is different than “be nice.” For example, “offer no resistance to one who is evil” seems to be saying, “let go of your pride.” It is not necessary or important to be right, or to win, or to even care that someone else appears more powerful or has hurt your pride/feelings. And, “give him your cloak as well” seems to say, let go of the possessions and all the material things that are making us feel more important than others.
I think I can hear what Jesus is saying in this story (and in many other gospel readings). To assume the posture of “letting go” of our small self labels will lead to us discovering our True Self – the Self that lives in God and that God lives in, as well. Matthew’s Gospel helped me to see that being a “left lane driver” is a good thing – but there is more. Letting go of the ego-driven labels that I constantly seek will move me towards, “Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on the one who wants to borrow.” (Creighton U. Daily Reflection, n.d.)
Don Schwager 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) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 5:38-42 comments that we might fear that if we live according to the way of self-giving, we will end up like Naboth—or Jesus. If we don’t look out for ourselves, who will stop the devourers from overwhelming us?
Of course, there is a difference between living selfishly and taking care of ourselves and our families. Jesus doesn’t want us to be irresponsible. But he does want us to be as generous and forgiving as possible. He wants us to go out of our way to care for each other—even when the person we are caring for doesn’t fully appreciate our efforts. In the end, we can trust that God will bless us. He promises, “All the hairs of your head are counted” and “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:30, 39). “Lord Jesus, help me to imitate you.” (Meditation on Matthew 5:38-42, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the tradition of land apportioned to families as an act of Divine Providence. The New Law of Jesus goes beyond the restrictions of the Old Law which had been intended to apply mercy and limit revenge. Friar Jude reminds us to respond to evil with exaggerated generosity as we need to destroy evil with love.
Franciscan Media comments that Saint Anthony of Padua is recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars.
Anthony should be the patron of those who find their lives completely uprooted and set in a new and unexpected direction. Like all saints, he is a perfect example of turning one’s life completely over to Christ. God did with Anthony as God pleased—and what God pleased was a life of spiritual power and brilliance that still attracts admiration today. He whom popular devotion has nominated as finder of lost objects found himself by losing himself totally to the providence of God. (Saint Anthony of Padua, n.d.)
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, writes about how a radical change in lifestyle is at the heart of Franciscan spirituality and the gospel of Jesus.
The early Franciscan friars and the Poor Clares wanted to be Gospel practitioners instead of merely “inspectors” or “museum curators” as Pope Francis calls some clergy. Both Francis and Clare offered their Rules as a forma vitae, or “form of life,” to use their own words. They saw orthopraxy (“correct practice”) as a necessary parallel, and maybe even precedent, to mere verbal orthodoxy (“correct teaching”) and not an optional add-on or a possible implication. History has shown that a rather large percentage of Christians never get to the practical implications of their beliefs! “Why aren’t you doing what you say you believe?” the prophet invariably asks. The Franciscan school found a way to be both very traditional and very revolutionary at the same time by emphasizing practice over theory. At the heart of their orthopraxy was the practice of paying attention to different things (nature, people on the margins, humility, itinerancy, mendicancy, mission) instead of shoring up the home base. They tried to live the Gospels “without gloss,” as Francis put it. [3] (Rohr, 2022)
May the Holy Spirit guide our response when we are challenged to practice the humility and charity that Jesus demonstrated to His followers.
References
Creighton U. Daily Reflection. (n.d.). Online Ministries. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/061322.html
Matthew. (n.d.). MATTHEW 5. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?38
Meditation on Matthew 5:38-42. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/06/13/410062/
1 Kings, CHAPTER 21. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/21?1
Psalms, PSALM 5. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/5?2
Rohr, R. (2022, June 13). Living the Gospel without Gloss — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/living-the-gospel-without-gloss-2022-06-13/
Saint Anthony of Padua. (n.d.). Franciscan Media. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-anthony-of-padua
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do Not Return Evil for Evil. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=jun13
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