The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
“You have heard that it was said … but I say to you.” Mt. 5:38
You may have noticed these last few Sundays that the Gospel of Matthew has emphasized what has come to be called “the sermon on the Mount.”
What Jesus does in this famous sermon is pose two wholly different ways of viewing life:
On one hand, we are presented with the conventional “business as usual” or the “way of the world” wisdom.
On the other, we are offered the wisdom of the Gospel, the wisdom of the unconventional, the wisdom of imitating the unbounded love of the Father for all his people.
The first way offers this directive:
Happy are those who enjoy power, because they will be in charge, will reap enormous economic benefits, and will be empowered to lord it over others.
In contrast, Jesus says:
Happy are the humble, because they will inherit the earth.
Our culture tells us:
Happy are those who sit in judgement over others, because they can boss people around, and find an abundance of ways to feel important and superior.
Jesus says:
Happy are those who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.
Our culture says:
Happy are the people who can oppress their opponents, because they are the victors who are able to hold all the power.
Jesus says:
Happy are those who beat their swords into plowshares, who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.
“You have heard that it was said … but I say to you.”
Today’s Gospel goes a step further and makes perhaps the most radical challenge of all. In fact, it is arguably the most significant and important directive that Jesus ever gave us:
“You have heard it was said: ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
“You have heard it was said: ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
To be sure, when Jesus speaks of love of enemies, he is not thinking about affectionate feelings, about passionate love, or even about necessarily “friending” them on Facebook. What Jesus is emphasizing is a “radically human relationship of positive concern for the enemy as a person,” as one scripture scholar puts it.
That same scholar goes on to say: “It’s not enough to denounce terrorism. It’s not enough to show our horror and repulsion at every attack on human life. We have to work day in and day out to build a different society, uprooting ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ and cultivating an attitude of reconciliation that is difficult but not impossible to achieve.”
In other words, we need to change our culture.
We need to do whatever we can to promote peacemaking over violence. We need to start believing, and living, that evil is overcome with good, not with a stronger version of evil.
We all have the choice before us, the culture of the world as we know it, or the culture of Jesus and the Gospel – the road less traveled.
“You have heard that it was said … but I say to you.”
Which road will you take?
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
NOTE:
To again quote Cardinal McElroy:
“The synodal dialogues in every region of our world have given sustained attention to the structures that exclude or diminish women within the life of the church.
Participants have powerfully pointed out that women represent both the majority of the church and an even larger majority of those who contribute their time and talents to the advancement of the church’s mission. And yet, in a church where almost all decision-makers are men, there are few spaces where women can make their voices heard. Yet they are the backbone of church communities.
The synodal dialogues have reflected widespread support for changing these patterns of exclusion in the global church, as well as for altering structures, laws and customs that effectively limit the presence of the rich diversity of women’s gifts in the life of the Catholic community. There are now calls for eliminating arbitrary actions that preclude women from many roles of ministry, including the admission of women to the permanent diaconate and ordaining women to the priesthood.”
