Love Your Enemies-7th Sunday Year C
Love your Enemies
My brothers and sisters, the message of Jesus in today’s gospel is a radical, challenging message. We are all very familiar with the Job description or the rules and statutes of the groups and congregations. We have to learn it practices it and review it time to time. Today Jesus is asking his disciples to review the formulas of the Christian life. We realize that it is not easy to be a follower of Christ.
Today’s first reading teaches us that we must never base our morality on our emotions. In, David has the chance to kill King Saul—the man who was trying to kill him! But, to his credit, David’s moral conduct here was not rooted in his emotions; it was rooted in the truth. It was rooted in the truth of who Saul was! David realized that Saul was still "the Lord’s anointed".
Every one here has at one time or another been wounded by someone or, at least, we believe we have been hurt or offended. Because of this we can accumulate a tremendous burden of resentments, grudges, hatred and anger. In today's Gospel, Jesus gives us the solution to our anger and wounds. "Be merciful as your Father is merciful." He asks us to love our enemies and do good to those who harm and hate us. The key is forgiveness, to forgive those who wound us and hurt us no matter how severe those wounds are.
Forgiveness is at the very core of Christianity and is the most divine thing anyone can do. Forgiving does not mean that the wound will disappear, but it will allow you to be able to live with that wound and love them as Jesus loves them. The virtue of forgiveness finds its fullest expression in the challenge of Jesus to love our enemies. Father they do not know what they are doing, forgive them. We are all the recipients of that divine forgiveness. No matter how far any of us has strayed from God, He always gives us a way back to Him and is ready to forgive us. God touches us in our sinfulness, which is part of our very humanity, and is there to forgive us. God's forgiveness is the love He has for us that reaches into the dark spaces of our failings and brokenness, raises us up, and holds us in the palm of His hand until we are healed. The love of God and His willingness to forgive us gradually leads us from our sinful ways to a life of grace and purpose.
The love he calls us is to be pro-active. It is not the kind of love that says, "I love humanity. It is just my neighbor that I cannot stand". Here is a cute little story that may illustrate the pro-active love that Jesus calls us to. We know it by another name-The Golden Rule.
One day, a mother happened to overhear her daughter and a few of her friends concocting a scheme of revenge against another little girl who apparently had done something mean to them. Well, she took the girls aside and said, "It seems to me that you are doing to her exactly what you do not want her doing to you. That is not the Golden Rule that Jesus taught us, is it"? "Well", replied one little girl, "The Golden Rule is OK for Sundays but, for every other day, I prefer to have an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". Not exactly what Jesus taught! Isn’t it?
And, that is exactly the way the world looks at things. It makes sense to most people to take revenge on their perceived enemies and to love only those who love you. The world is also quick to judge those with whom they disagree. The world lives as if God does not exist at all.
Jesus prefers that we speak and live his words in our everyday lives. The love that Jesus calls us to is not a noun-it is a verb-something done. That is the way Jesus lived and he wants us to do the same. We are to live every minute of our lives as if God truly exists. The writer, G. K. Chesterton, said this about Christianity. "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried".
In June 1902, when 20-year-old Alessandro Serenelli stabbed Maria Goretti 14 times in her heart, lungs, and intestines, she survived for 20 hours in the hospital, undergoing surgery without anesthesia. When she was asked if she forgave her murderer, she replied, "Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise."
After serving his prison term, Alessandro Serenelli sought Assunta Goretti, Maria's mother, and begged her forgiveness.
Assunta told him, "Maria forgave you, Alessandro, so how could I possibly refuse?" The following morning, Christmas Day 1937, Assunta and Alessandro entered the parish church side by side to attend mass.
Remember what the father of India and an ascetic (1869 - 1948) Mahatma Gandhi said “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”Is there anything that can help us to forgive those who have hurt us? Forgiveness is a decision. Decide today to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean blotting out painful memories but it means not acting out of them. Those who are having difficulty forgiving a hurt have to repeat to themselves, “I will not allow him/her to control my life. I take control of my life back from him/her. From now on I will control my life”. When you hate some one he or she is in control of you. You are not free any more.
Another help to forgive somebody is to be humble enough to admit that we cannot control another person. Giving up the need to control or dominate the person who hurt us, surrendering the need to expect them to ask forgiveness from us frees us to forgive them.
“Love your enemies” doesn’t mean approval of evil, acceptance of evil. It doesn’t even mean that we have to like everybody. There are some people who are just not likeable. Let’s face it. But we are asked to love everybody. And that’s a very, very different thing. It goes way beyond liking. It means for a start, that we wish them no harm. Indeed that we wish them good.
We all know that we are called to love our enemies. begin with Jesus, gazing upon the Crucified, and listening to His first words from the Cross: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing". Then continuing to gaze upon the crucifix and repeating those powerful words over and over again, we may ask the Lord to help us to forgive.
Secondly, we should act out our forgiveness. Perhaps a phone call, or letter, or a friendly knock on someone's door will convey forgiveness. For forgiveness requires an act. It is not enough to simply think about it “O K I am going to forgive him or her” Make an action with your decisions. If the person who has hurt us is deceased, then going to the cemetery and there reading aloud a letter forgiving that person from the heart and praying provides a means whereby we may act out our forgiveness.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, how can we kneel down and ask God for forgiveness, and then refuse to forgive an enemy? As John the Evangelist said, "He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love the God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4: 20). Remember Jesus’ words “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My brothers and sisters, the message of Jesus in today’s gospel is a radical, challenging message. We are all very familiar with the Job description or the rules and statutes of the groups and congregations. We have to learn it practices it and review it time to time. Today Jesus is asking his disciples to review the formulas of the Christian life. We realize that it is not easy to be a follower of Christ.
Today’s first reading teaches us that we must never base our morality on our emotions. In, David has the chance to kill King Saul—the man who was trying to kill him! But, to his credit, David’s moral conduct here was not rooted in his emotions; it was rooted in the truth. It was rooted in the truth of who Saul was! David realized that Saul was still "the Lord’s anointed".
Every one here has at one time or another been wounded by someone or, at least, we believe we have been hurt or offended. Because of this we can accumulate a tremendous burden of resentments, grudges, hatred and anger. In today's Gospel, Jesus gives us the solution to our anger and wounds. "Be merciful as your Father is merciful." He asks us to love our enemies and do good to those who harm and hate us. The key is forgiveness, to forgive those who wound us and hurt us no matter how severe those wounds are.
Forgiveness is at the very core of Christianity and is the most divine thing anyone can do. Forgiving does not mean that the wound will disappear, but it will allow you to be able to live with that wound and love them as Jesus loves them. The virtue of forgiveness finds its fullest expression in the challenge of Jesus to love our enemies. Father they do not know what they are doing, forgive them. We are all the recipients of that divine forgiveness. No matter how far any of us has strayed from God, He always gives us a way back to Him and is ready to forgive us. God touches us in our sinfulness, which is part of our very humanity, and is there to forgive us. God's forgiveness is the love He has for us that reaches into the dark spaces of our failings and brokenness, raises us up, and holds us in the palm of His hand until we are healed. The love of God and His willingness to forgive us gradually leads us from our sinful ways to a life of grace and purpose.
The love he calls us is to be pro-active. It is not the kind of love that says, "I love humanity. It is just my neighbor that I cannot stand". Here is a cute little story that may illustrate the pro-active love that Jesus calls us to. We know it by another name-The Golden Rule.
One day, a mother happened to overhear her daughter and a few of her friends concocting a scheme of revenge against another little girl who apparently had done something mean to them. Well, she took the girls aside and said, "It seems to me that you are doing to her exactly what you do not want her doing to you. That is not the Golden Rule that Jesus taught us, is it"? "Well", replied one little girl, "The Golden Rule is OK for Sundays but, for every other day, I prefer to have an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". Not exactly what Jesus taught! Isn’t it?
And, that is exactly the way the world looks at things. It makes sense to most people to take revenge on their perceived enemies and to love only those who love you. The world is also quick to judge those with whom they disagree. The world lives as if God does not exist at all.
Jesus prefers that we speak and live his words in our everyday lives. The love that Jesus calls us to is not a noun-it is a verb-something done. That is the way Jesus lived and he wants us to do the same. We are to live every minute of our lives as if God truly exists. The writer, G. K. Chesterton, said this about Christianity. "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried".
In June 1902, when 20-year-old Alessandro Serenelli stabbed Maria Goretti 14 times in her heart, lungs, and intestines, she survived for 20 hours in the hospital, undergoing surgery without anesthesia. When she was asked if she forgave her murderer, she replied, "Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise."
After serving his prison term, Alessandro Serenelli sought Assunta Goretti, Maria's mother, and begged her forgiveness.
Assunta told him, "Maria forgave you, Alessandro, so how could I possibly refuse?" The following morning, Christmas Day 1937, Assunta and Alessandro entered the parish church side by side to attend mass.
Remember what the father of India and an ascetic (1869 - 1948) Mahatma Gandhi said “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”Is there anything that can help us to forgive those who have hurt us? Forgiveness is a decision. Decide today to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean blotting out painful memories but it means not acting out of them. Those who are having difficulty forgiving a hurt have to repeat to themselves, “I will not allow him/her to control my life. I take control of my life back from him/her. From now on I will control my life”. When you hate some one he or she is in control of you. You are not free any more.
Another help to forgive somebody is to be humble enough to admit that we cannot control another person. Giving up the need to control or dominate the person who hurt us, surrendering the need to expect them to ask forgiveness from us frees us to forgive them.
“Love your enemies” doesn’t mean approval of evil, acceptance of evil. It doesn’t even mean that we have to like everybody. There are some people who are just not likeable. Let’s face it. But we are asked to love everybody. And that’s a very, very different thing. It goes way beyond liking. It means for a start, that we wish them no harm. Indeed that we wish them good.
We all know that we are called to love our enemies. begin with Jesus, gazing upon the Crucified, and listening to His first words from the Cross: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing". Then continuing to gaze upon the crucifix and repeating those powerful words over and over again, we may ask the Lord to help us to forgive.
Secondly, we should act out our forgiveness. Perhaps a phone call, or letter, or a friendly knock on someone's door will convey forgiveness. For forgiveness requires an act. It is not enough to simply think about it “O K I am going to forgive him or her” Make an action with your decisions. If the person who has hurt us is deceased, then going to the cemetery and there reading aloud a letter forgiving that person from the heart and praying provides a means whereby we may act out our forgiveness.
Yes dear brothers and sisters, how can we kneel down and ask God for forgiveness, and then refuse to forgive an enemy? As John the Evangelist said, "He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love the God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4: 20). Remember Jesus’ words “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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