"LOVE YOUR ENEMIES"
First Reading: Leviticus 19: 1-2,17-18
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3: 16-22
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 38-48
* First reading is from the book of Leviticus. In this passage the Lord God asks Moses to instruct the people of Israel regarding their way of life. They are told to be holy like the Lord God Himself. To be holy would mean - not to hate one's neighbour or to take vengeance on anyone . This teaching of the Lord God finds its echoes in the teachings of Jesus.
* Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Corinthians. In this passage Paul reminds the Corinthian Christian community that Holy Spirit dwells among them. They are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Hence they should be holy. Further he says that the wisdom of the world is folly and worthless. Paul requests them to respect one another forgetting their differences whatever that may be.
"You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"
Today's Gospel reading is from St. Matthew. This passage contains one of the most difficult and revolutionary teachings of Lord Jesus. To love those who love us is easy and not challenging. But Jesus tells His disciples and us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Such a teaching is never heard of.
Jesus gives us the example of the heavenly Father who is good to everyone - both to the good and to the bad. Jesus goes beyond the teachings of Leviticus where love was restricted to the neighbour. Jesus makes it clear that revenge and retaliation is not for His disciples. The Old Testament teaching of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is not to be practiced by His disciples. Because revenge and retaliation eventually destroy a person and the society. Jesus asks His disciples to be better than the gentiles/ordinary folk in their behaviour.
Jesus' teaching is very sensible if we look at the world today. Hate never solves any problems. Rather when we hate another person we give him/her tremendous power over us and he/she robs us of our peace of mind and capacity to love. Let us turn our enemies into friends.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends". - Abraham Lincon.
"Love is the only force capable of transforming any enemy into a friend." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"Overcome the angry by non-anger: overcome the wicked by goodness"- The Buddha.
"To error is human but to forgive is divine"- Proverb.
First Reading: Leviticus 19: 1-2,17-18
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3: 16-22
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 38-48
* First reading is from the book of Leviticus. In this passage the Lord God asks Moses to instruct the people of Israel regarding their way of life. They are told to be holy like the Lord God Himself. To be holy would mean - not to hate one's neighbour or to take vengeance on anyone . This teaching of the Lord God finds its echoes in the teachings of Jesus.
* Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Corinthians. In this passage Paul reminds the Corinthian Christian community that Holy Spirit dwells among them. They are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Hence they should be holy. Further he says that the wisdom of the world is folly and worthless. Paul requests them to respect one another forgetting their differences whatever that may be.
"You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"
Today's Gospel reading is from St. Matthew. This passage contains one of the most difficult and revolutionary teachings of Lord Jesus. To love those who love us is easy and not challenging. But Jesus tells His disciples and us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Such a teaching is never heard of.
Jesus gives us the example of the heavenly Father who is good to everyone - both to the good and to the bad. Jesus goes beyond the teachings of Leviticus where love was restricted to the neighbour. Jesus makes it clear that revenge and retaliation is not for His disciples. The Old Testament teaching of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is not to be practiced by His disciples. Because revenge and retaliation eventually destroy a person and the society. Jesus asks His disciples to be better than the gentiles/ordinary folk in their behaviour.
Jesus' teaching is very sensible if we look at the world today. Hate never solves any problems. Rather when we hate another person we give him/her tremendous power over us and he/she robs us of our peace of mind and capacity to love. Let us turn our enemies into friends.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends". - Abraham Lincon.
"Love is the only force capable of transforming any enemy into a friend." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"Overcome the angry by non-anger: overcome the wicked by goodness"- The Buddha.
"To error is human but to forgive is divine"- Proverb.
