Seventh Sunday of the Year: A: February 19, 2023

                  LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

First Reading: Leviticus 19: 1-2 and 17-18

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3: 16-23

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 38-48

   *First reading is from the book of Leviticus. The Lord God asks Moses to instruct the people of Israel regarding their way of life. They are to be holy like the Lord God Himself. To be holy means: They are not to hate their neighbour or to take vengeance on anyone. These instructions of the Lord God find echoes in the teaching of Jesus.

   *Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Corinthians. Paul reminds the Christian community at Corinth that the Holy Spirit dwells among them. They are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Hence, they are to be always holy. Paul elaborates this teaching by saying that the wisdom of the world is folly and worthless. He 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. A very difficult and revolutionary teaching is given by Jesus. To love those who love us is easy and in no way challenging. But Jesus instructs His disciples and us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Such a teaching is never heard of by anyone in the past. Jesus gives us the example of the heavenly Father who is good to everyone - both to the good people and to the bad people. Jesus goes beyond the teachings of the book of Leviticus where love is restricted to the neighbour. He makes it abundantly clear that revenge and retaliation is not for His followers. The Old Testament teaching of 'an eye for an eye' and 'a tooth for a tooth' is not to be practised by His disciples. Because, revenge and retaliation eventually destroys the person and the society. Jesus asks His disciples to be better than the Gentiles/ordinary folk in their behaviour. Jesus' teaching sounds very sensible in the context of 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. Following the teachings of Jesus, 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." - Buddha

"To error is human but to forgive is divine." - Proverb