7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Sunday 19th February 2017)
But I tell you this – (Matthew 5:38-48)
A lady went on a Civil Rights march, protesting about discrimination against African Americans. During the march, a man threw a potato at her, hitting her on the side of the head. She picked it up, brought it home and planted it in her garden. Some months later, she brought a small bag of new potatoes to the man who threw the potato at her in the first place.
This week Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to give our cloak as well as our tunic, and to love and pray for our enemies. Why was He saying these things? Was He making them up as He went along? Are they just nice thoughts he plucked out of the air?
In continuity with last week’s Gospel, what He is doing is bringing the Law to fulfilment, as He said He would. More importantly, He is telling us what His Father is like. He is telling the people, “This is what you have believed up to now, but I am telling you this.” The most striking example is where He says “You have heard how it was said love your neighbour and hate your enemy, but I tell you Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’’.
There were places in the Old Testament which condoned hatred, even saying (Ps 11:5), that God hates with a passion the wicked, those who love violence. The prophet Hosea (9:15) has God saying about His own people “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there”. Psalm 5:5 says “You hate all who do wrong”. On reading these, a person could say “if God hates them, then it is all right for me to hate them too”.
But Jesus is saying “My Father, far from hating anybody, is good to all people, the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous, letting the sun shine and the rain fall on all”. Jesus is not just telling us what the new law is. He challenges us to do “more than others do”, such as pagans and tax collectors. In this way, we will be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. (This is not the same as being a perfectionist, having every practical detail of our lives in perfect condition).
What about praying for those who persecute us? Pope Francis says two things. Praying for them does change them, (perhaps in ways we will never know), and it makes us “children of our Father in heaven” (Vs45).
Who can turn the other cheek, give away their coat, go two miles instead of one, love enemies and pray for all those who persecute them? Not us. Not without you, Lord. As you did from your cross, let us wage love, not war. Give us generosity of spirit. We want to love as you do.
Fr. Kevin O’Rourke S.J.