Scripture:
1 Corinthians 8:1b-7, 11-13
Luke 6:27-38
Reflection:
Aren’t there some teachings that Jesus leaves with us that are incredibly unnerving?
- love your enemies…………………..really?,
- do good to those who hate you……..wow!
- bless those who curse you………….hmm!
- pray for those who mistreat you….perhaps.
Who are my enemies; those who hate me; those who curse me; and those who mistreat me?
I think of a son in prison who has been the black sheep of the family and has been so antagonistic, selfish and verbally and behaviorally abusive that no one wants to have anything to do with him anymore. And what about the lady in the parish who goes out of her way to publicly insult and embarrass others because of confrontations she has had with them over the years. Then there is a fellow who reneged on his office rent for a year before he was evicted and never attempted to repay or apologize before the eviction, now living and acting as if nothing had ever happened.
The list goes on. Fortunately, most of us have more friends and trustworthy companions than we do enemies, even though it sometimes doesn’t feel that way. But that is the whole point of Jesus’ teaching, isn’t it? “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.”
So how do I learn to love and pray for the son in prison, the cantankerous lady in the parish and the defaulting renter in the same way that Jesus loves them? Are my own feelings of anger and self-pity getting in the way? Have I not learned to separate these individuals from their behaviors? As troubling as the behaviors may be, they do not mitigate the fact that each of these people were created in the image and likeness of God just as every human being has been. Perhaps I need to look more deeply to see that image of God in them. I might then learn to love them in a different way and to tolerate their unwanted behavior, irrespective of whether I can reconstruct a workable relationship with each. Perhaps I can learn to love them and pray for them in the way that Jesus expects me to while still, with some courage and sacrifice look beyond the consequences of the behaviors.
Jesus could have destroyed his tormentors, torturers and crucifiers with a simple crushing blow. But he did not. Rather he chose to endure his passion and death for each one of us, even though we have also exhibited unwanted behavior at some points in our sinful lives.
Sum it up for us dear Lord: “Be merciful, just as also 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.”
Bill Berger has had a lifelong relationship with the Passionist Family. Bill and his wife, Linda, are currently leaders of the Community of Passionist Partners (CPPs) in Houston.