7th.
Sunday of Year (C)
(1Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; 1 Corinthians
15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38)
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That said, it is a fact that Jesus, at times, did speak in such a
way as to shock His hearers into thinking about, not just hearing, what He was
saying. Sometimes He seems to have
deemed it necessary to provoke, or even offend, His listeners in order to make
them seriously think about His teaching, rather than just passively listen to
His words.
The Gospel reading we have just heard may have induced such passivity
in some who might, perhaps, be inclined say that today’s reading was very nice. Indeed, it was ‘nice’ as regards expressing
some beautiful aspirations or thoughts, but did it not also contain words that might
seem to be as equally disturbing if not as provocative, as His words at His
home-town synagogue, or the ’woes’ in last Sunday’s gospel? For example, what is one to think about the
words:
Give to
everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand
it back?
In order to understand Jesus aright we must turn to Mother Church,
our guide and support along the Way, and she sets before us today in the first
reading King David as an admirable example of what loving our enemy means.
For all that David reverenced Saul as the Lord’s anointed King, he
in no way trusted him, and had no intention of falling into the hands of such a
person, which is why he took great care to put a considerable distance between the
King and himself before revealing his presence:
(he) stood on
the top of a hill afar off, a great distance being between them.
Only at such a distance did David think it safe to make Saul aware
of what had, and what had not, just happened. Notice too that although David reverenced Saul
as God’s anointed, nevertheless he roundly accused him of his personal, evil,
actions:
Why does my
lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my
hand? Now therefore, please, let my lord
the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against
me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, may they be
cursed before the LORD.
David showed truly Christian love in his dealings with Saul, but
in no way was he willing to put himself at the mercy of Saul; and Mother
Church’s choice for our second reading today is of great help here, for St.
Paul tells us:
The first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam (Christ)
a life-giving spirit. The first
man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly
one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly One.
David showed a ‘life-giving’, truly Christian love, charity, for
Saul when he spared him; but he did not ‘love’ him in the commonly-used sense
of that much-abused word today because he did not, and could not, trust the
man.
Now today, of the many who refuse to accept the guidance of Mother
Church, some turn to the Scriptures as the only source of teaching
for Christians, and will accept only the obvious and literal meaning of the
words they read there, because any other understanding must, necessarily, come
from some other -- and to their mind, invalid or inadequate -- source. Therefore, to remain faithful to such a
Bible-only approach to Christian faith and practice they would understand
Jesus’ words:
To him who
strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also
quite literally; and so, they might well think that, ideally,
David in our first reading should not have been fleeing from Saul, but should rather
-- trusting in God -- have allowed Saul to apprehend him! Such
Christians are spiritual people indeed, but somewhat light-headed.
Quite the opposite are the great majority in our modern society,
who are, at the very best, leaden-footed spiritually; they acknowledge the
authority neither of Mother Church nor of her Scriptures, and to their minds
Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel passage is sheer madness:
Give to
everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand
it back.
For, how can such words be relevant to, or applicable in, modern
society, where there are so many liars and con-merchants, so many drug addicts
and drunkards, so many care-free vagrants who have no scruples whatsoever. How can a father, working hard to support his
family, give to everyone who asks? And
again, from a social point of view, if people just allowed themselves to be
mugged in the streets without trying to keep what was being stolen from them,
where would our society be? Thieves and
blackguards, young thugs and budding bullies, would feel free to get their
money from anyone they might choose to pick on in the street, with the result
that there would no longer be any human society, just a modern jungle with
might considered to be right, cunning supplanting consideration, and
instinctive lies being easier than truth and its attendant difficulties.
I just want to recall for you now, how Judas Iscariot, pretending
to be a most perceptive disciple, tried to turn Jesus’ teaching against Himself:
Then Judas
the Iscariot, one of His disciples, and the one who would betray Him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the
poor?” He said this not because he cared
about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to
steal the contributions. Jesus said,
“Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of My burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do
not always have Me.” (John 12:4–8)
I would suggest, dear People of God, that in our Gospel reading
today, Jesus -- far from preaching madness, and far from being provocative in
order to bring about change -- is trying to guide us, lead us, into thinking through
His words to His teaching, that we might perhaps, in that way, come to
realize and appreciate a most important spiritual truth.
Why does He choose to speak in that way? Because: we cannot have God given us on a
platter, we have to want communion
with God; that is, we needs-must want to understand, want to love,
and to live for, Him supremely; and such blessings are only bestowed on those
who desire them most sincerely and are willing to strive wholeheartedly for
such communion.
Jesus is, therefore, speaking today to those who desire to
know and love Him more; not to provoke, as at Nazareth, but in such a way as to
urge them to strive, search, and pray, for ever greater understanding when
things seem obscure or even dark, for ever greater faith and trust when that
darkness brings along with it an unwonted coldness that would threaten the warm
spark of love in their own heart.
What then is He wanting us, today, to fathom out for ourselves
when, moved, puzzled perhaps, by His words, we are, nevertheless, thus urged on
by His Spirit within us?
Jesus, I suggest, is trying to make us realize that His Holy Spirit
must be able lead us anywhere; and therefore,
that there should be no set limits in our loving and obedient response to Him
whereby we might cry out ‘Thus far and no further’. Moreover, Jesus wants to help us appreciate
that our relationship with Him, by the Spirit, is to be a relationship that is
not only ecclesial, but also and always personal,
and indeed, sometimes, possibly unique. That is, He does not always and
necessarily ask of us the same as He seeks from others in the Church. In the most important and essential issues,
the Spirit moves the Church as the one Body of Christ; at other times however,
He may will – for His own specific purposes – to move, use, an individual as a
distinct member of that one Body, as He has done with His saints over the ages,
for example our own, modern, St. Therese of Lisieux, unique and distinct most
certainly, yet loved and admired by all.
As we have
borne the image of the earthly man, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly Man, St. Paul told
us.
That is, we have to -- it is our heavenly calling to – become
more and more like Jesus. Now, that
is not to be done by following pat formulae or human imaginations; only the
Spirit of Jesus can form us, individually and personally, into an authentic and
distinct likeness of Jesus. Consequently,
we have to learn to recognize and respond to the Holy Spirit, given us by Jesus
in Mother Church, when He tries to move us, as individual disciples of Jesus. Moreover, though individually distinct, all
of us are also living members of the One Body of Christ, and it is essential
for the integrity of the whole Body that the Holy Spirit be able, by His divine
wisdom and grace, to move us – both as one and individually -- in such a way as
to harmoniously continue and further the work of salvation inaugurated by Jesus.
Tragically, there are many in Mother Church today who are afraid
to follow the Guiding Spirit of Jesus in their lives: they prefer to do what is
popular, to seek what promises to be successful, to profess what is politically
correct. In such cases, however, they should
remember that Jesus, too, at times found it necessary to ponder, pray, and
struggle even to the sweating of blood, to understand and embrace His Father’s
will:
Abba, Father,
all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not
what I will, but what You will. (Mark 14:36)
Jesus learned from events to recognize both His Father’s working
in others, and His Father’s will for Himself.
For example, when Peter, without hesitation, and in the name of all the
Twelve, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” Jesus recognized
that His Father had chosen Peter and that He wanted Jesus to do the same, for
which reason, Jesus answered Peter saying (Matthew 16:17-18):
Blessed are
you, Simon Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My
Father Who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it.
We, likewise, have to follow Jesus and try to recognize,
understand, and obey God’s Spirit at work in us, seeking to form us personally
in Jesus for the Father and for the Church.
And we must also recognize that He, the Spirit, may choose to lead us,
as individuals, just as Jesus taught Peter (John 21:20-22):
Peter,
turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had
leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who
betrays You?" Peter, seeing him,
said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I will that he
remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
So, in our Gospel reading today, Jesus is not saying directly and
with full intent that here are some things you must do, literally and no matter
what; rather is He trying to lead us into a right attitude in our relationship
with and response to His most Holy Spirit, working always in Mother Church and
in each of us as much as we will allow Him: an attitude of unconditional and
loving surrender to His guidance.
It is not permissible for us to set limits that would say ‘thus
far and no further’ to the Spirit’s authority and inspiration; for He invites
each and every one of us -- as a child of God -- to follow His guidance, obey
His will, and in that way allow ourselves to be formed in the likeness of Jesus
for the Father, and also to be used by the Spirit for the good of the Church. If therefore, the Spirit does ask of you,
personally, in any particular situation:
To do good to
those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who
spitefully use you; to him who strikes you on the one cheek, to offer the other
also; and from him who takes away your cloak, not (to) withhold your tunic either;
(to) give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods
not (to) ask them back;
then, indeed recognize that He is wanting that of you at that
point in time, in that particular situation, for the good of the Church and for
your personal formation as a disciple of Jesus; but it is not,
necessarily, what He is wanting from others; and it may not, indeed, be
His permanent purpose for you.
That we learn to have a permanent attitude of listening
for, and humbly responding to, the call of the Spirit in our life is immeasurably
more important than any individual, passing, actions on our part – however meritorious
they may be. As human beings, and as disciples
of Jesus and children of Mother Church, it is not of the greatest importance
that we always get things right, that we never leave ourselves open to the criticism or blame of men; far, far more
important is it that we learn to listen ever better for the Spirit speaking
within us; that we become more able to hear Him clearly when He does so speak,
and become ever more prepared to unhesitatingly respond by following His lead
along ways that give glory to God, help our neighbour, and exalt Mother
Church. Those ways are the only ways
that truly lead to heaven because they are chosen for us by the Spirit of
Jesus, for the purpose of forming each of us in the likeness of the ‘heavenly
man’, and Mother Church herself as the perfect Bride of Christ, offering and
commending His salvation to the whole of mankind.
