From beatitudes to be-attitudes: (to) love your enemy

Listening to the Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.

Lord,
by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Listening to the Word

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Reflection

Today's gospel reading is a continuation of the teaching that began in last Sunday's gospel. We continue to hear Jesus' Sermon on the Plain-the Beatitudes. Recall that in Luke's Gospel, the Beatitudes are addressed to Jesus' disciples. This is in contrast to the parallel found in Matthew's Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount are addressed to both the disciples and to the crowds.

If last Sunday we listened to the Beatitudes, today Jesus gives us the powerful “be-attitudes” that should lead us to action for a better world and better Christian. These words from Jesus' teaching are familiar to us. They constitute the crux and the challenge of what it means to be a disciple: Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give to those who ask, do to others as you would have them do to you, lend without expecting repayment, stop judging.

The schooling of the disciples continues. Here we see that such schooling is intent on changing the way we think as well as the way we act. Perhaps one of the most difficult lessons to learn in this area is forgiveness of those we consider our enemies, those who have wronged us. Love your enemy? Really? You can imagine the reaction of the disciples on hearing this.

How and what is your personal reaction to Jesus’ invitation: to love your enemy? Mahirap. To defend our weaknesses, we used to say: “We are not perfect, tao lang naman tayo, we are not God”. Is it impossible to love your enemy? The answer is a Very Big NO. Jesus is our perfect example in forgiving His enemies, those who persecuted and mocked Him. Matthew in his Gospel 5:48 says “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And Luke in today’s gospel says “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”. Hence, as Christians, lays the measure of love which is love without measure. In short: love unconditionally.

As challenging as this may be, the gospel calls us to an even higher standard: we must be merciful as God is merciful. God loves us beyond our expectations, beyond anything we can possibly imagine. In response to God's love, we are to love as God loves, beyond expectations and with a depth beyond imagining. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”.

If such perfection can become a reality in our lives, we will be able to forgive. Paul in today’s second reading assures us that we can indeed attain such perfection not by ourselves, but through the power of the risen Lord, whose image we bear.

May Love “Be-Attitude” of us as Christian. Happy Sunday.