The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to translate the counter cultural message of Jesus into love and support for those who oppose our action and lifestyle.
The reading from the Book of Leviticus describes ritual and moral holiness.
* [19:17–18] These verses form a unit and describe different attitudes and actions towards one’s fellow Israelites. A separate passage is necessary to advise a similar attitude toward aliens (vv. 33–34). Cf. 25:39–46. The admonition at the end of v. 18 came to be viewed in Judaism and Christianity as one of the central commandments. (See Mt 22:34–40; Mk 12:28–34; Lk 10:25–28; cf. Mt 19:19; Rom 13:8–10; Gal 5:14). The New Testament urges love for enemies as well as neighbors (Mt 5:43–48; Lk 6:27–36; cf. Prv 25:21–22). (Leviticus, CHAPTER 19, n.d.)
Psalm 103 offers thanksgiving for God’s Goodness.
* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22). (Psalms, PSALM 103, n.d.)
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians declares we are God’s temple.
* [3:21–23] These verses pick up the line of thought of 1 Cor 1:10–13. If the Corinthians were genuinely wise (1 Cor 3:18–20), their perceptions would be reversed, and they would see everything in the world and all those with whom they exist in the church in their true relations with one another. Paul assigns all the persons involved in the theological universe a position on a scale: God, Christ, church members, church leaders. Read from top to bottom, the scale expresses ownership; read from bottom to top, the obligation to serve. This picture should be complemented by similar statements such as those in 1 Cor 8:6 and 1 Cor 15:20–28. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 3, n.d.)
In the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches concerning retaliation love for enemies.
* [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.
* [5:41] Roman garrisons in Palestine had the right to requisition the property and services of the native population.
* [5:43–48] See Lv 19:18. There is no Old Testament commandment demanding hatred of one’s enemy, but the “neighbor” of the love commandment was understood as one’s fellow countryman. Both in the Old Testament (Ps 139:19–22) and at Qumran (1QS 9:21) hatred of evil persons is assumed to be right. Jesus extends the love commandment to the enemy and the persecutor. His disciples, as children of God, must imitate the example of their Father, who grants his gifts of sun and rain to both the good and the bad. (Matthew, CHAPTER 5, n.d.)
David Crawford doesn’t know what to do with the word “perfect” in the Gospel today.
Thankfully, our loving and merciful Lord gives us some positive ways to focus our energies. Love your neighbor as yourself is a great start, and then Jesus extends that with love your enemies. Jesus then tells us to pray for our adversaries, which may seem hard but has the wonderful result of changing our own hearts so that we no longer consider them our enemies. In Leviticus, God tells us to love and let go of hatred, anger, desire for vengeance, and grudges. In the Gospels, Jesus tells us to love those who attack or take advantage of us. When we obey, we benefit spiritually, mentally, emotionally and sometimes even physically as we let the Spirit take from us those sources of pain and bitterness. When we love, as Christ commanded, we keep His word, and (as our Alleluia verse tell us) the love of God is truly perfected in us. Perfect, just as our loving, merciful, forgiving, gracious heavenly Father is perfect. (Crawford, 2023)
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 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 asks how could the all-holy God dwell amid sinful people like the Corinthians—and us, for that matter? This is the mystery of the mercy and power of God.
God so desires to be close to us that he chooses to inhabit imperfect groups of imperfect people. The treasure of his presence dwells in “earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7). And he dwells in you. You may not feel like a beautiful temple; you may feel more like a cracked clay pot. But what makes you holy is not your own goodness; it’s Jesus himself, helping you every day, to be perfect, as he is perfect (Matthew 5:48).
“Thank you, Holy Spirit, for living in me! Make me more like Jesus today.” (Meditation on 1 Corinthians 3:16-23, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the moral code of Leviticus that calls us to be other in how we treat people with kindness, moral soundness and charity. Paul identifies us as Temples of the Holy Spirit called to treat others with sacred respect and not according to the wisdom of the world. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus extends the Lex talionis to a new law of loving our enemy and recognizing them as broken.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares how Jesus’ message and way is intended to change our lives with its counter-intuitive wisdom and call.
I believe that we rather totally missed Jesus’ major point when we made a religion out of him instead of realizing he was giving us a message of simple humanity, vulnerability, and nonviolence that was necessary for the reform of all religions—and for the survival of humanity. We need to dedicate our lives to building bridges and paying the price in our bodies for this ministry of reconciliation (Ephesians 2:13–18). The price is that we will always, like all bridges, be walked on from both sides. Reconcilers are normally “crucified,” and the “whole world hates them,” because they are neither on one side nor the other. They build the vulnerable bridge in between, which always looks like an abdication of ground to the supposedly “true believer.”...
The way of the cross looks like failure. In fact, we could say that Christianity is about how to win by losing, how to let go creatively, how the only real ascent is descent. We need to be more concerned with following Jesus, which he told us to do numerous times, and less with worshipping Jesus—which he never once told us to do. [2] (Rohr, 2023)
We seek the inspiration of the Spirit to respond to life in a society of factions with love for those who oppose and reject us.
References
Crawford, D. (2023, February 19). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/021923.html
Leviticus, CHAPTER 19. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/leviticus/19?1
Matthew, CHAPTER 5. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?38
Meditation on 1 Corinthians 3:16-23. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/02/19/613284/
1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 3. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/3?16
Psalms, PSALM 103. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103?1
Rohr, R. (2023, February 19). Following Jesus' Way — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/following-jesus-way-2023-02-19/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=feb19
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