Seventh Sunday of the Year: C: February 20, 2020

                       LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

First Reading: 1 Samuel 26: 2, 7-9, 12-13 and 22-23

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 45-49

Gospel Reading: Luke 6: 27-38

   *First reading is from the first book of Prophet Samuel. King Saul becomes jealous of David and he seeks to kill David. One night David sneaks into the camp of Saul while everyone was asleep. David has a golden opportunity to kill Saul. But he does not do it because he realizes that it is a crime to kill a person anointed by the Lord God. Here we see the forgiving attitude of David in spite of his enmity with King Saul. 

Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Corinthians. Paul makes a comparison between Adam and Christ. He explains to us that in Adam  we owe our earthly life. He was a man of dust. In Christ we owe our life in heaven. He was a man from heaven.

Jesus' call to radical discipleship                                                        Today's Gospel reading is from St. Luke. Jesus throws some radical challenges to His disciples and to us. He makes it very clear that revenge and retaliation has no place in His kingdom. Jesus gives the following action plan for His followers: 1. Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. 2. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you. 3. Give to everyone who asks from you. 4. Do to others as you would wish them do to you. 5. Do not judge and you will not be judged. 6. Forgive and you will be forgiven. 7. The measure you give will be the measure you get back. Hence a disciple of Jesus should have this attitude in all circumstances of life. If we follow these precepts of Jesus, the world would be a better place to live in. Jesus promises that we would truly become sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. We see a reversal of values in the kingdom of Jesus. Instead of an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth as told in the Old Testament, Jesus tell us that when someone strikes you on your right cheek you should offer the other too. 

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." - Martin Luther King Jr.