Christ, El Greco [Web Gallery of Art]
Readings
(New American Bible:
Philippines, USA)
Readings
(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Luke 6:27-28 (New Revised Standard
Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘But
I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also;
and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes
away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you
would have them do to you.
‘If
you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love
those who love them. If you do good to
those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the
same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what
credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing
in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most
High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn,
and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure
you give will be the measure you get back.’
Léachtaí Gaeilge
Pope Benedict XVI [Wikipedia]
Here is a reflection by Pope Benedict on this Sunday's gospel during his Angelus talk on 18 February 2007. I have emphasised some parts.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This Sunday's Gospel contains
some of the most typical and forceful words of Jesus' preaching: ‘Love your enemies’ (Lk 6: 27). It is
taken from Luke's Gospel but is also found in Matthew's (5: 44), in the context
of the programmatic discourse that opens with the famous ‘Beatitudes’. Jesus
delivered it in Galilee at the beginning of his public life: it is, as it were,
a ‘manifesto’ presented to all, in which he asks for his disciples' adherence,
proposing his model of life to them in radical terms.
But what do his words mean? Why
does Jesus ask us to love precisely our enemies, that is, a love which exceeds
human capacities?
Actually, Christ's proposal is
realistic because it takes into account that in the world there is too much violence, too much injustice, and therefore that this situation cannot be
overcome except by countering it with more
love, with more goodness. This ‘more’ comes from God: it is his mercy
which was made flesh in Jesus and which alone can ‘tip the balance’ of the
world from evil to good, starting with that small and decisive ‘world’ which is
the human heart.
This Gospel passage is rightly
considered the magna carta of Christian non-violence. It does not consist in
succumbing to evil, as a false interpretation of ‘turning the other cheek’ (cf.
Lk 6: 29) claims, but in responding to evil with good (cf. Rom 12: 17-21) and
thereby breaking the chain of injustice.
One then understands that for
Christians, non-violence is not merely tactical behaviour but a person's way of
being, the attitude of one who is so convinced of God's love and power that he
is not afraid to tackle evil with the weapons of love and truth alone.
Love of one's enemy constitutes
the nucleus of the ‘Christian revolution’, a revolution not based on strategies
of economic, political or media power: the revolution of love, a love that does
not rely ultimately on human resources but is a gift of God which is obtained
by trusting solely and unreservedly in his merciful goodness. Here is the
newness of the Gospel which silently changes the world! Here is the heroism of the
‘lowly’ who believe in God's love and spread it, even at the cost of their
lives.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Lent, which will begin this Wednesday [Lent 2019 begins on 6 March] with the Rite of Ashes, is the favourable
season in which all Christians are asked to convert ever more deeply to
Christ's love.
Let us ask the Virgin Mary,
docile disciple of the Redeemer who helps us to allow ourselves to be won over
without reserve by that love, to learn to love as he loved us, to be merciful
as Our Father in Heaven is merciful (cf. Lk 6: 36).
Antiphona ad communionem Communion Antiphon Ps 9:2-3
Narrabo omnia mirabilia tua.
I will recount all your wonders,
Laetabor et exsultabo in te,
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
psallam nomini tuo, Altissime.
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
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