Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.

 

Seventh Sunday in OT   C   2025

Last Sunday’s Gospel of the Beatitudes and this Sunday’s Gospel give us a radical profile in Kingdom Living – living by the Gospel values of the Kingdom of God.  Listen to the words of the Gospel:  “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

These Gospel injunctions go way over the top of reasonable expectations.  Jesus is saying:  Do to others as you would have them do to you and continue to do so to them no matter what they do to you.  These words challenge our human instincts and force us to ask:  Is this really possible?

This teaching may thin the crowd of Jesus’ followers.  It is a suggestion that  goes directly against common sense.  Love your enemies…Give to everyone who asks of you…Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

This shocking advice is not social naiveté.  It is theological courage of a high order.  Jesus has opted for the attitude of unconditional love rather than the attitude of reprisal and revenge.  Jesus calls us to move beyond the human logic of reciprocity to the divine logic of superabundance.  We are invited to be immersed in the grace of God.

 

This attitude of unconditional love of others only makes sense when we genuinely that we are loved unconditionally by the grace of God.

We are the disciples of Jesus who are called to Kingdom living following the values of the Gospel.  There are times for us as disciples of Jesus that following the law is just not enough.  Rather, we are to live immersed in the mystery of God’s love.

Example for us comes from with the law that makes it legal to have an abortion right to the moment of giving birth.  Quite bluntly, tragic law does not alter the sacredness of life.  This teaching of the Church is clear and unmistakable.

This tragic legislation does not change what Jesus Himself has taught:  All life is sacred.   When life is threatened in any way, whether by abortion, racism, violence, drug addiction or poverty, Catholics are called to speak   up and stand with those who are being oppressed.

What are we to do?  We the parishioners of the Church of the Holy Spirit must try to change the law but perhaps more importantly change the culture in which we live.  We do that by living lives that demonstrates our genuine respect for life through prayer, through supporting the agencies that support pregnant women with alternatives to abortion, and making our pro-life convictions known to our legislators.

No matter what laws are passed, we are to live our lives with Kingdom living, with Gospel living, with affirming that all life is sacred.  We need to begin with ourselves and with our families and with our parish family and affirm the dignity of all life as a precious gift of God. The conversion we seek must begin with ourselves.

Coming back to our Gospel, Jesus says:  Forgive and you will be forgiven.  Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing will be poured into your lap.  For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.  What does this mean?  Jesus is saying to us:  “Stop the crazy, endless slaughter of human life by stopping it in yourself.”

The conversion we seek must begin with ourselves.  As we seek to change the culture of death and abortion in society, we must root out within ourselves all that does not value the dignity of our own life, the dignity of the lives of those around us, and the dignity of all life.  May we value the precious, precious gift of pregnancy.  May we be supportive to the young families of our parish community.  May we value the life of each and every parishioner no matter how old or how young they are.

And as we seek to have zero tolerance for the horrific sin and crime of sexual abuse, may we value the sacredness and dignity of our own sexuality and the precious gift of sexuality with all people.  With God’s grace, may we seek to rid ourselves of the temptation to pornography, the temptation to exploit the sexuality of anyone.

The gospel imperative is that we are to begin with ourselves and to be witnesses of the mystery of God’s love in the way we live our lives.  The voting booth is important and a beautiful exercise of our citizenship, but as the disciples of Jesus we are called to witness to a culture of love and life by the way we live our lives from day to day, from moment to moment.

What is our response to the Gospel demand that are to love our enemies, that we are to do good to those who hate us?  It is our inner relationship to our loving God that determines our response to whatever is happening.  In other words, circumstances do not control us.  We are to embody the love of God that is within us

We ask for the grace to be freed from compulsive judgmental  reaction in the face of conflict.  We are free to embody the loved and loving identity that is our core.  “Loving enemies, blessing those who curse you, praying for those who persecute you, lending to those who cannot repay” are general imperatives for proactive, graceful living.

Now Jesus is challenging us to take God as our frame of reference and our criterion for action.  He is asking us to look at life not from our narrow human perspective but rather from God’s own perspective.  God is kind and merciful to both the righteous and the wicked.  And so in loving our enemies we can imitate the example of God.  We are to show kindness even when it is undeserved,

Our identity as the disciples of Jesus is to witness to the command of Jesus:  “By this all shall know that you are my disciples in your love for one another.”

 

Put God first; be generous; and seek justice and truth.

SIXTH SUNDAY IN OT  C  2025

It is incredible in Luke’s Gospel how Jesus consistently stood with the poor and marginalized.  Jesus is looking at us right in the eye when He says: “Blessed are you who are poor” and “Woe to you who are rich.”  Luke’s special concern for the poor, the marginal and the sinner are a central feature in Luke’s unique parables of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the widow and the unjust judge.  Zacchaeus the tax collector convinced Jesus of his conversion by promising to give half his possessions to the poor, and Jesus advised his wealthy contemporaries to be sure that their banquets were frequented by the poor, blind, crippled and lame.  This is a quick overview of the unique features of Luke’s Gospel.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us teaching on the Beatitudes, a teaching that turns worldly values upside down.  These words challenge us to reflect on what we seek in life – comfort and security in earthly things or deep trust in God’s promises.

The message of Jesus is radical.  He doesn’t just bless the poor, hungry, and suffering – He also pronounced woes on the rich, satisfied, and praised.

Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.  This is not just about material poverty, but a spirit of dependence on God.  Those who recognize their need for God are truly blessed.

Woe to you who are rich.  Jesus warns against placing our security in wealth, comfort, or social status.  Riches are not evil, but when they replace our trust in God, they become dangerous.

I suggest three simple ways to live this Gospel in our daily life.

·      Put God first.  Instead of relying on material success, cultivate a deeper relationship with God through prayer and trust.

·      Be generous.  Share your blessings with those in need.  Wealth is a gift meant to be used for the good of others.

·      Seek justice and truth.  Stand up for what is right, even when it’s unpopular.  The world may reject Gospel values, but Christ calls us to live life differently.

 

When we understand that ours are the only hands God can use to make a difference, our compassion will not let us rest until we go into action.  The commitment of the disciples may end up making them poor, but they will experience a blessedness that is priceless.  This is the blessedness that Jesus offers to those who live the Beatitudes in their lives from day to day.

What about ourselves as a parish community who seek to live out the Beatitudes in our lives?  How do hear those challenging words of Jesus:  Blessed are you who are poor.”  “Woe to you who are rich.”

Those of us who have been nourished well and received a decent education understand that we will never experience the poverty of our brothers and sisters who lack that foundation. Further, there is nothing virtuous about destitution and malnutrition.  This is certainly a far cry from blessedness.

The blessedness we seek, the conversion we seek is to commit ourselves to be agents of change in the way we share the blessings we enjoy.  The commitment we seek is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who came to serve and not to be served, who washed the feet of his disciples and calls us to wash the feet of God’s poor.

The tire hits the road in our spiritual journey when we ask ourselves how much of the blessings of life that I enjoy am I willing to share with others?  What commitment will I make to building the ministries of our parish life?  Frankly, Jesus doesn’t give us much wiggle room.

From the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading and in our responsorial psalm, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.”  As our trust in the Lord is deepened, we experience a new freedom in sharing what was previously thought to be impossible. 

 The joy of the Lord we seek comes with a spirit of generosity.  The promise I always make is you will never regret your generosity in the service of others.  I have had the privilege of listening to many, many eulogies or Words of Remembrance in our funeral liturgies, I have never once heard a family member or a friend regret the deceased person’s generosity. 

As we think about our hopes and dreams for us as a parish community, we continue to dream about more and more becoming a listening, missionary Church.  We are a parish characterized by missionary outreach in support of St. Mary’s School in Tanzania.  We are missioned to continue to expand the ministry of Penfield Hope that started with just a few shelves of food in our office basement to now serving hundreds of families at its location at 1771 Penfield Road.  The expansiveness of Penfield Hope brings hope and food to urban food cupboard.  Our social outreach initiatives will continue to grow.

We support and empower St Joseph’s School to provide Catholic education for our youth.  Our school is a privileged opportunity to form and fashion our students after the mind and heart of Jesus. Our youth ministry is a major priority.  We are all in in providing faith formation and sacramental preparation for all our parishioners.  As a parish community, we engage in pastoral care to the hospitalized and for people in hurting moments of life.  We are planning in the Lenten season to provide adult educational opportunities that support the spiritual renewal of so many parishioners.  The list goes on and on.

The spirit of evangelization we seek is to further motivate ourselves to move beyond our comfort zone in serving the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the displaced, and all who are in need.  Pope Francis in his recent letter to the Bishops in the United States calls us to work closely with migrants and refugees, proclaiming Jesus Christ and promoting fundamental human rights.  The Pope continues: “God will richly reward all that you do for the protection and defense of those who are considered less valuable, less important or less human!

May our discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ be characterized by a spirit of generosity that leads us to help build our parish community and leads to reach out in service to all our brothers and sisters.

Have a blessed day.