First Sunday of Lent (A

 First Sunday of Lent (A) [Mt 4:1-11]

26.02.2023

The Temptation of Jesus Regarding Basic Drives

Readings:  (1) Gen 2:7-9;3:1-7 (2) Rom 5:12-19

1. Theme in brief:

Victory over our basic drives

2. Focus Statement:

In this Lenten Season, Jesus invites us to imitate him in overcoming temptations pertaining to our basic drives, and make a definite decision to be faithful to our baptismal vocation.

3. Explanation of the text

Strikingly, all the first three gospels mention about the temptations of Jesus immediately after his baptism. Soon after making a decision at baptism to be obedient to the Father’s will unto death, and to be faithful to his mission, his battle with the forces of evil that are opposed to that mission begins – symbolized by temptations of the devil. Today’s gospel dramatically portrays the inner struggle that was going on in the mind of Jesus throughout his life to be or not to be faithful to God. It dramatically depicts how he was very much tempted like us not to be faithful to his mission, but won over this test by firmly rejecting the devil’s proposals and totally submitting himself to the will of God. Elsewhere also the NT says that he was tested (tempted) in every respect as we are, but did not succumb to it (Heb 4:15).

Since the first two temptations brought to Jesus by the devil begin with the same words, “If you are the Son of God….. “ (4:3, 5), it is clear that his sonship which was declared at the time of his baptism (Mt 3:17) is being tested severely. The devil proposes to Jesus his own vitiated meaning of ‘Son of God’ – that which means worshipping worldly power and pomp. The devil challenges Jesus to prove that he is really God’s Son by changing stones into bread and jumping down from the pinnacle of the Temple. When we carefully read the three types of temptations of Jesus, we notice that the devil is not asking Jesus to commit any immoral act as such. Rather he is forcing Jesus to change his decision to be obedient to God and absolutely do only his will. He is enticing Jesus to adopt other convenient and easier means to complete his mission of saving humankind. Naturally, he was proposing short-cuts to glory bypassing the cross.

The devil is presented in this text as the one who tries to trap Jesus into his designs by catching the three basic drives in all human beings: (1) Temptation to convert stones into bread refers to challenging Jesus to misuse his divine powers for personal gain or to use them only to satisfy his own selfish needs (4:3). Obviously, the devil wants Jesus to seek total security in material things only and not to trust in God’s providential care. For Jesus, being the Son of God means to depend on God for daily bread or material needs. (2) Second temptation that challenges him to jump down from the pinnacle of the temple refers to asking him to deliberately put himself at a great risk and expect God to come to his rescue (4:6). The devil wants Jesus to demonstrate publicly God’s care for him or test and see whether God cares. In other words, he suggests that Jesus make God dance to his tune and even upset the natural order to serve his purpose; and thus seek cheap popularity. (3) Third temptation to show all the kingdoms of the world refers to giving Jesus political power over them, and the devil’s promise to give Jesus their “splendour”refers to all the wealth of those kingdoms (4:8). Of course, the devil has a condition: If ever Jesus could fall down and worship him, that is, worship power and wealth (4:9).

The gospel text puts the temptations of Jesus in the setting of “wilderness” (4:1) precisely because they represent the tests undergone by Israel during their fourty years of journey in the wilderness. Israel also doubted in God’s providential care (Ex 16:2), put God to the test (Ex 17:1), and went after the worship of idols instead of one Lord God (Deut 6:13).

When Jesus defeated the devil, the gospel text says that “suddenly angels came and waited on him” (4:11). This indicates God’s (represented by angels) approval of the stand taken by Jesus against the devil’s designs (4:11).

4. Application to life

On Ash Wednesday we mentioned that Lent is a time for renewal of our baptismal grace and commitment. We heard in the preceding textual explanation that Jesus was tested by the devil with regards to his baptismal vocation as the Son of God. Like him we too are tested or tempted throughout our life to go against our baptismal promises to renounce Satan and his pomp, and to be faithful to our commitment to serve God alone. In other words, we are often tempted to deviate from our baptismal vocation and mission. Temptations are an unavoidable part of human life. All of us have inner impulses and tendencies that pull us away from the path laid down by Christ in the gospel.  There is a strong pull inside us and around us (in our society) to abandon the principles of the gospel and to conform to a socially acceptable behaviour. How far are we struggling to resist these pressures following the example of Jesus who firmly rejected the enticement laid by the devil?

First of all, as Jesus we too are often tempted to use our powers for self-interest, and to forget about others’ needs. With the grace of God we need to overcome this test and decide like Jesus not to “live by bread alone” (4:4). Bread stands for all physical needs and material things. Sooner or later we come to the realization that all our needs are not or cannot be met by material things. In spite of having the latest gadgets and comforts, we feel that there is emptiness in us which we cannot fill.  Though food nourishes our bodies, what really guides and moves our spirit is “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (4:4). We are not here on earth only to eat, drink and make merry but to live for God and his values; to live for love, fellowship and for building up loving communities. Lent is the opportune time to examine whether we have drifted away from our life’s purpose or mission as Christian disciples.

Secondly, as Jesus we too are tempted to shun (run away) from our responsibilities and then demand miracles from God as proof of his love or care for us. In other words, we expect God to save us miraculously from all problems and suffering and prove his almighty powers, while we escape from our responsibilities. It is like telling God something like this: “O God, if you really exist, if you really love and care for me, you must do this particular thing for me.... You must miraculously save me from this particular problem/ illness/ calamity!’’ Even in prayer sometimes we pray for “my will, my will, O Lord” or “my way, my way, O Lord” and want him to use his almighty power to miraculously change our situation and fulfils our demands. Like Jesus we must decide not to put the Lord our God to the test (4:7) by using him to suit our designs. We must remain faithful to God even when God does not come to our rescue in all natural and man-made calamities and sufferings for reasons known to him alone. Lent is the time to realize that we are insufficient.

Thirdly, as Jesus was tempted we too are tempted to misuse our powers, talents, position and wealth for our own ambitions and to compromise with evil. Sometimes this tendency may go to the extent of ‘worshipping’ power, position and wealth. Under this category come temptations to pay homage to (or to put total trust in) our capabilities, bank balance, military might, weapons, name and fame, etc. Lent is the most appropriate time to make a firm decision like Jesus not to worship or serve worldly standards such as power and wealth, but God alone (4:10). God should be the only Master of our life.

All the three temptations are power-related: the first one is about misusing one’s power to meet one’s material needs miraculously; the second one is about misusing one’s power to work spectacular miracles to gain cheap popularity; and the third one is about using one’s worldly power to establish a political kingdom.

Who is this Satan or devil who tempted Jesus in the wilderness? Without entering into any debate with the various meanings and explanations given to devil or Satan by theologians and spiritual authors, for our reflection in Lent we can take one meaning: He is the most powerful symbol of an Evil Power that attacks a fervent believer in many ways: (1) the Evil Power that infects our mind and contaminates it by putting evil thoughts and desires into it to rebel against God and his standards just as it happened to Jesus; (2) the Evil Power that appears in the form of bad companions, or even well meaning family members, companions and colleagues, like Peter who had advised Jesus not to walk the way of the cross, and to whom Jesus had rebuked by saying, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mt 16:23); (3) the Evil Power that enters through our God-given gifts and talents to make us feel too proud of them to the extent of thinking that we are indispensable to our family/ organization/ company/ religious congregation/ diocese/ parish and makes us think: “Let me see, how they will run the show without me”; and (4) the Evil Power that prompts in our minds not to accept responsibility for our failures; instead, cover them up, make excuses and put the blame on others.

Traditionally, Satan’s role is described as seducing or enticing people into sin. Sin is a virus that infects the spirit in us and blocks our growth in divine life infused in us at baptism and also growth into maturity of discipleship. All the temptations of Jesus mentioned in today’s gospel fall under what spiritual authors call seven basic drives or inclinations to sin with which all humans are born: anger, pride, envy, lust, sloth, covetousness and gluttony. Selfishness is the father of all these seven. If we allow these basic drives to take control of our minds and thinking pattern, they will lead us not only to sins but also to unfaithfulness to our baptismal vocation. Let us look at the spiritual havoc done by these basic drives when they are left unbridled:

Anger may lead to bitterness, hatred, judgmental attitude, condemnation towards our enemies/opponents; pride may prompt us to become ‘unteachable’, arrogant and rebellious; envy may make us sad at another’s good and joyful at their evil, or lead us to indulge in calumny, obsessive desire to sit on somebody else’s ‘chair’ (position); and to put down better performers than us; lust may lead to sexual abuses, pornography, unhealthy friendships/ relationships, and misuse of internet/ mobile phones/ TV; sloth may lead us to become lazy, idle away time, neglect duties and engage in so much gossiping; covetousness may lead to crave for the “splendour” of worldly kingdom resulting in craze to possess latest things, and to exhibit inordinate attachment to money, things, persons and places;  and gluttony may lead to indulging in overeating and drinking when it is freely available, sometimes even at the wrong time.

Today’s passage places before us the model of Jesus to battle with the forces of evil within and outside us during this Lent.  Following the example of Jesus who fasted for fourty days (4:2), Lent is the most opportune time to examine how our Christian faith and vocation are constantly battered by forces opposed to the Kingdom of God or supportive of the kingdom of Satan and how often we lose the battle. Lent is the best time to get rid of the virus that has infected our spirit due to seven forces of evil by using an anti-virus programme – of prayer, fasting (penance), reflection on God’s Word and reception of sacraments with fervent faith and proper disposition. When we struggle to resist temptations two things fill us with tremendous consolation: (1) If Jesus our High Priest was tested (tempted) in every respect as we are (Heb 4:15), why not we? Neither in Jesus, nor in us, is temptation a one-time occurrence, but a life-long ordeal. We are fortunate to have a High Priest (Jesus) who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15). (2) In our test of faith, we are not alone, but have the assurance, presence and supporting hand of Jesus who says: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). The Church invites us to make a definite decision for God and his standards rather than world’s. She invites us renew our promise made at baptism not to put God to the test, not to worship power and wealth, but to live on God’s word and serve him above everything or everybody else.

5. Response to God's Word

Are we faithful to our baptismal promises of renouncing Satan and his pomp – the worship of power and money, and becoming slaves of evil habits? In what way do we misuse our powers, distrust God’s care and compromise our values with that of the world? Do we trust in God’s providential care for our material needs? Do we expect miracles from God on our behalf without fulfilling our duties and responsibilities? Do we consider power and wealth more valuable than real love? Are we willing to follow the path of intense prayer, fasting, penance, Scripture-reading during this Lent as means to resist evil and anti-Kingdom forces? What is our Lenten programme to get liberated from its hold?

6. A Prayer

Lord Jesus, just like you we too are often tempted not to be faithful to our baptismal promises; to use our powers to satisfy our selfish needs; to distrust God’s providential care to satisfy our material needs; to demand miracles from God as a proof of his love for us and avoid our responsibilities; to crave for power, prestige, honour and wealth and to make compromises with the worldly standards. We believe that you are with us and give us the strength to face these temptations because you too were tested like us. Give us the grace to make decisive choice for God’s values and always to say ‘no’ to the ways of the world. Amen.

ASH WEDNESDAY (A)

LENTEN SEASON (C)

Ash Wednesday [Mt 6:1-6.16-18]

02.03.2022

Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting with a Difference

Readings: (1) Joel 2:12-18 (2) 2 Cor 5:20-6:2

1.  Theme in brief

Right motive and attitudes for Lenten observances

2.  Focus Statement

Our Lenten observances should be done for right motives that give glory to God, and not for self-glory or for attracting people’s attention and getting a merit certificate from God.

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel Jesus speaks about three religious practices found in all religions, namely, almsgiving, prayer and fasting.  He approves these practices, but with a difference. He criticizes the manner in which they are practiced by pious Jews (mainly the Pharisees) of his time and points out their wrong motives. He attaches three prescriptions to be followed by his disciples while practicing these deeds of piety: (1) the type of behaviour they should avoid; (2) the proper motive or attitude they should observe; and (3) the type of reward they should look for.

In today’s gospel, he emphasizes three times the need to avoid hypocrisy and showiness while practicing each of these pious deeds (6:2,5,16). [A hypocrite is an actor in life’s drama, who pretends to be what he/she is not in real life.] Instead of practicing these deeds like actors in a pious drama, these deeds should be done to give glory to God and not to be seen and praised by others (6:1-2); that is, not for self-glory or to earn public reputation. They are only means to achieve an end – an expression of our inner attitudes and motives. They are not to be practiced to attract people’s attention (6:1,3,6,17) or to get a merit certificate from God. Jesus’ instruction to shut the door of one’s room and pray privately or secretly (6:6) does not mean we should not pray in common or publicly. What it means is that prayer should not be done with other ulterior motives than for glorifying God and entering into a deeper communion with him. Here Jesus points out how self-centeredness can be the motive for even the best of religious practices. If they are done for personal glory rather than for God’s, they lose their real meaning or purpose.

While speaking about the reward for such practices, Jesus contrasts between the shortsighted earthly reward and the everlasting heavenly reward. The former is earned through recognition, admiration and reputation among the public and the latter is an eternal reward of heavenly bliss given by the Father. In human society, the one who gives alms earns the reputation of being generous, the one who prays regularly in public places of being a devout person and the one who fasts rigorously of being an ascetic. In contrast, the Father who sees everything in secret, looks into people’s hearts, and rewards them by judging the inner motives behind these deeds (6:4,618). Since those who make a public display of these deeds already receive their reward here on earth in terms of a high reputation, honour and name, there is no further scope for any other reward in the age to come.

4.  Application to life  

Today we enter into a 40-day period of inner purification called the holy Season of Lent. For many Catholics, Lent means just giving up meat on Fridays and attending the Way of the Cross on that day. They also very well understand that Lent is a period of penance for their sins by focusing on Christ’s passion. Though this is true and noble, the primary purposes of Lent are less emphasized and less understood by many Catholics: (1) It is a time of preparation for Easter or the Lord’s Passover. Just as the Lord Jesus passed (crossed) over from death to eternal life at his resurrection, this is a period set apart for us to pass over from all sinful, selfish, ungodly and worldly ways to new (holy) life on Easter day by following the path of charity, ardent prayer and penance, as outlined by Jesus in today’s gospel. (2) It is a time for renewal of our baptismal grace and commitment. At baptism (which was our first Easter) we crossed over from sin to a new or holy life, or in St. Paul’s metaphor ‘died’ with Christ and ‘rose’ with him. But we have soiled our baptismal purity by our sins and by not “believing in the gospel,” as per the words used by the priest while imposing ash on the head (Mk 1:15). Not “believing in the gospel” means not living or following the way of life laid down for us in the gospel of Christ. So Lent is a period set apart for us to turn away from sins and come back to the Lord and to his gospel. In St. Paul’s metaphor it is a time to ‘die’ to our sinful/ selfish ways and ‘rise’ to a new/ holy life as we complete fourty days of penance on Easter day.

How? In today’s gospel text Jesus lays down three Lenten observances as aids to renew our baptismal commitment, namely, almsgiving, prayer and fasting. He gives a new meaning to these traditional practices, which is different from what many pious people of his time as well as in our own times understand. These practices are to be external expressions of genuine repentance and conversion. They are means to reach the goal of renewing our baptismal call. This renewal needs to be done by coming close to God and a determination to give up evil practices and sins. We have to examine our inner motives and dispositions and ask ourselves if these observances will lead us to a renewal of our baptismal call – the aim of Lent – and make us committed disciples.

The first Lenten observance of almsgiving must be broadly understood to include all charitable deeds and sharing of our goods with the needy as well as solidarity with those whom we have excluded from our schemes. It is an expression of our gratitude to what God has given us out of his bounty and our responsibility to share something of that with the have-nots. The second one, namely prayer should proceed from our genuine love of God, and lead to a deeper communion with him flowing into more committed service to our neighbours. The third one, namely fasting includes all acts of penance and abstinence. Lenten abstinence from meat, alcohol, smoking, etc., is to be practiced for spiritual benefits and not purely for health reasons like lowering one’s cholesterol or preventing cancer. Nor penance should be done for its own sake, or just for experiencing a good deal of pain by giving up something dear to us without using it as a means to change of hearts. Fasting and acts of penance need to be signs of our genuine repentance - a turning away from evil and turning back to God. When done with pure motive, they can lead us to an inner disposition for repentance and sorrows for our sins. They are aids for “dying to sin and rising with new life” when we shall celebrate EASTER.

Let us enumerate some of the spiritual motives for fasting and abstinence:

(1) It is a means to humble ourselves before God and is an expression of mourning for our sins and wrongdoing. It is meant to make us realize the harm inflicted on ourselves and others by our own sins and to seek the path of conversion. (2) It is an aid to prayer. It is up to us to use it for reflecting on our hunger for God as we feel physical hunger. (3) It reminds us to feel the pain and agony of so many people in the world who go hungry due to their poverty, and the suffering of those who are seriously ill or are victims of natural calamities, or experience injustice, etc. (4) It reminds us of the need to do our bit for the alleviation of suffering and misery in the world, by spending a bit of our money/ time/ energy/ expertise for this cause. (5) It is a form of self-discipline and self-control we want to practice by giving up a pleasurable thing. When we freely choose to impose discipline on ourselves for a greater cause or a higher good without any external force, we shall look as if we are going for a feast when we actually are fasting. This could be one of the applications of Jesus’ saying: “When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face” (6:17). (6) It teaches us to manage without things we are so used to, such as food, drink and modern comforts. Before motor vehicles, electricity and mobile phones came into existence people knew how to manage their affairs. Now, can we manage without electricity or mobile phone for an hour without making a fuss or becoming restless? One of the penances in Lent could be to switch off or not to take the mobile phone to the church/ chapel, or during the common meal (at least at supper).

Apart from abstinence from meat/ smoking/ drinking we can do more creative types of fasting and penance during this Lent: (1) walking to the railway station or bus stand if it is within a km instead of going by our vehicle or hiring a vehicle for the noble cause of protecting our environment from further degradation; (2) saving energy and water by limiting their usage or resisting their unnecessary wastage; (3) resisting the desire to get glued to the mobile phone all the time and using it for fun-calls and needless talk like, “What did you cook for dinner”; (5) donating money for charitable/ worthy causes secretly without any desire for display of one’s name on the notice board/ on marble stone or mention of it in church announcements. We need to reflect and see whether we would have donated any money for that good cause if our names were not mentioned or displayed anywhere. Since Jesus asks us to purify our motives and check whether they are genuine, why not give it a try and move from common practice of the world.

The best penance we can do in Lent is to practice in a visible manner the traditional works of mercy. They are divided into two categories: (1) The Corporal Works of Mercy : to feed the hungry; to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to shelter the homeless; to visit the sick; to visit the prisoners; to bury the dead. This traditional list of corporal works of mercy is not exhaustive and not to be taken only in its literal sense. We can practice these works of mercy in other ways – by not wasting food; sending a portion of our food (not leftover food) to an orphanage; making drinking water available to passers-by or distributing it during a public function; sharing our space with others ( e.g. with workers for taking a break in between their work, or for students for their studies/ coaching class); donating blood to the sick; visiting a home for the aged with small gifts; visiting the sick in homes or in hospitals; giving material help to the family of prisoners (especially when breadwinners are imprisoned); visiting the bereaved families and local cemetery to pray for the repose of those who are buried there.

 (2) The Spiritual Works of Mercy : to instruct the ignorant; to counsel the doubtful; to admonish sinners; to bear wrongs patiently; to forgive offences willingly; to comfort the afflicted; to pray for the living and the dead. We can practice these works of mercy in other ways – by sharing our faith-convictions with those who have doubts of faith; accompanying a relative or neighbour who is undergoing mental or physical pain to a retreat/ healing/ prayer/ counseling centre; refraining  from gossiping about others in their absence; explaining the truth of our faith to somebody as we understand it; inviting neighbours to attend a group Mass; volunteering to teach catechism in the parish; admonishing somebody who has gone astray from Christian path and showing the way to turn back to God; forgiving or asking pardon from somebody with whom we have stopped talking for a long time or doing a charitable deed for that person or his family; praying to be patient with those who are unbearable; praying for the persons against whom we have grudges; etc.

In this Lent we could try to choose and practice any one of the corporal works of mercy and/or spiritual works of mercy.

 

5.  Response to God's Word

Do we do Lenten observances with above-mentioned motives? Or do we do them only to follow a custom or gain merit here and hereafter? Do we use them as means to improve our Christian commitment? Are we self-centred even in our religious practices? Are we going to follow the path of giving and sharing, praying more, sacrificing and renouncing with the motive of self-renewal and better Christian commitment throughout this Lenten Season? Which of the above-mentioned creative ways of fasting we would like to observe?

6.  A prayer

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness; in your compassion blot out my offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. A pure heart create for me, O God; put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence; nor deprive me of your Holy Spirit. Do not despise my broken and contrite heart and restore to me the joy of your salvation. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

 Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time [Mt 5:38-48]

19.02.2023

The Law of Non-retaliation and Love for Enemies

Readings: (1) Lev 19:1-2.17-18 (2) 1 Cor 3:16-23

1.  Theme in brief

Overcoming evil with good

2.   Focus Statement

Since we are God’s children, we must imitate God’s perfection by doing good to, praying for and greeting those who hate and persecute us or those who are evil and unrighteous.

3.   Explanation of the text

In  today’s gospel, just like last Sunday’s, Jesus once again “fulfills” or radicalizes two more old laws with his new understanding and interpretation of them, namely (1) the law of retaliation or the law of tit-for-tat (5:38) and (2) the law of hating one’s enemies (5:43) which is not directly mentioned in the OT. In plain language, the OT law of retaliation (also found in the ancient Code of Hammurabi) that commands “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Lev 24:20) means this: If your enemy destroys one of your eyes or breaks one of your teeth, you are legally permitted to destroy your enemy’s one eye or break a tooth, but not both the eyes or all the teeth. Your revenge has to be proportionate to the loss or injury caused to you by your enemy.

Though in modern view this law sounds barbaric, in ancient days it was meant to restrict or limit the enormity of vengeance and violence that was prevalent before this Code came into existence, like killing several people even when one was killed or wiping out the whole village for a wrong. This law was meant to enact fair justice among the people of ancient Israel. Jesus radicalizes even this limited retaliation permitted by the law by ruling it out altogether. He teaches his disciples to refrain from resisting an evildoer violently, or from the common practice of returning evil for evil (5:39); instead he teaches them to overcome evil with positive good.

Though there is no direct command in the OT to hate one’s enemies, Jesus here projects the prevailing mentality among Israelites in his days and states it in the form of a command: “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy” (5:43). It was understood that Israelites “hate” non-Israelites. Actually, the word used for “hate” in the original lanuage does not mean the strongest aversion or disgust for someone as we commonly understand. Plainly it means to love somebody less than others. In this text Jesus takes the command “to love your neighbour” beyond the narrow boundary of loving only fellow Israelites – as the Jews understood – to include loving one’s enemies also.

Who are our enemies?  When we analyse mn/ today’s gospel text, we come to know that our enemies are those who injure us (5:38), strike us (5:39), sue us and take away our belongings (5:40), compel us to work for them against our will (5:41), do not return what is borrowed from us (5:42), do evil (5:39), hate and persecute us (5:43-44), and are unrighteous (5:45). Jesus gives four examples to explain how to love this kind of people positively and conquer evil with good, which should be understood not in their literal but symbolic sense:

(1) Showing the other cheek to them (5:39) implies a refusal to return insult for insult from them. [In order to hit on the other cheek one has to use either the left hand or the back of one’s palm; both symbolize a great insult in Palestinian culture.] (2) Giving our cloak also if they forcibly take away our coat (5:40) means giving others more than what they ask. (3) Walking an extra mile if they force us to walk one mile (5:41) means going beyond what is asked of us, or doing much more than the minimum of what is expected of us. (4) Giving whatever the beggars and borrowers ask of us (5:42) means doing charity without expecting anything in return or willingness to give more than what is asked by those in need (5:42). (5) Praying for them (5:44) and greeting them (5:47).

Why should the disciples love their enemies? The reason given by Jesus for loving their enemies is to show their nature as God’s children (5:45).  If his disciples’ conduct does not reflect anything of God’s nature or character, how can they claim to be his children, or a reward from him (5:46)? God’s nature is so impartial and generous. He makes his sun rise and rain fall on the hideouts of terrorists and compounds of cloistered nuns equally (5:45). What greatness is there in calling oneself his disciple if one’s love is purely reciprocal, that is limited only to returning love for love? Even the sinful tax-collectors and hated Gentiles do that much (5:46-47). Instead, he tells his disciples to imitate the perfection of God himself, that is, his own nature of being holy, pure, faithful, generous, forgiving and single-minded.

4.   Application to life

In today’s gospel Jesus invites us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is. Here “perfection” does not mean totally flawless or faultless. What it means is that we, being God’s children, have to imitate God’s own nature or character such as his holiness, generosity, forgiveness and single-mindedness. It also implies acquiring God’s way of thinking, loving and forgiving. In other words, our conduct should correspond to our status or dignity as God’s children. In the OT, to be perfect means to be holy, “for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 19:2). Holiness does not mean only regular prayer and church attendance. We become holy and imitate God’s own perfection by loving, praying for, and resisting the temptation to retaliate against those who injure us, strike us, take away our belongings, hate and persecute us or those who are evildoers and unrighteous. Again, since God provides necessary things such as sunshine and rain to the evil and the good or the righteous and the unrighteous, in order to be perfect like the heavenly Father we (his children) are to imitate his own qualities. Instead of retaliating evil with evil, we are called to return evil with good or with a loving deed. The word “perfect” can also mean complete or thorough.  When we love only our family members and friends, our love is incomplete. To do that one need not be a follower of Christ. All do it naturally. It is only when we love those who hate and persecute us, our love becomes complete.

It is clear, according to Jesus the reason why we are to love our enmies is because we are called to exhibit God’s own nature or qulaities as his children. To be children of the heavenly Father means striving day after day for the goal of treating our enemies as God treats them. It also means going beyond justice, beyond what others deserve or ask of us. It further implies imitating God’s own generosity and forgiveness by responding to hatred with love, refraining from all revenge and retaliation. Showing the other cheek does not mean allowing our enemies to attack us. It means not to return a slap for a slap, an insult for an insult or a hurt for a hurt, but instead do good to those who do such evil. Since our heavenly Father treats the good and the evil ones impartially, since we are his children, we too have to do the same as explained in the above-mentioned text.

Though Jesus identifies a number of enemies in today’s gospel (cf. explanation above), his list is not to be taken as exhaustive. We can extend it to include the following kind of enemies: our personal, national (e.g. India and Pakistan), political, religious and business enemies; those who hate, oppose, criticize, harm, challenge and speak ill of us, etc.  To find this kind of people, we need not go to a foreign or hostile land. Sometimes we can find some of them within the four walls of our own house and in our own neighbourhood. Even those whom we love genuinely can turn out to be our enemies. The law of retaliation – “an eye for eye and tooth for tooth” – is alive and active even today in other forms, such as revengeful aerial strikes to smash one’s national enemies totally, genocide, ethnic cleansing, communal riots, blacklisting of troublemakers by managements and governments. In our ordinary sense, love means a good feeling, a natural attraction or affection towards somebody. But the type of love (“agape” in Greek) advocated by Jesus goes beyond a good feeling, attraction or affection. What good feeling can we have for our enemies? Jesus does not command us to be affectionate towards our enemies, but he commands to do good also to those people towards whom we have no affection or attraction. To do this we need to make a decision of the mind almost everyday to do good to those whom we don’t feel like doing good.

Retaliation against the injury, harm and insult caused by our enemies is a natural instinct in us. Jesus calls us to go against our natural instinct that prompts us to return blow for blow. Given the human instinct for revenge, if all the citizens of the world were allowed to apply the law of retaliation mentioned above liberally, today most people would have been blind and toothless. Faith gives us what nature cannot give. With a deep faith we can rise above our human nature that cries for vengeance to regain our lost honour. Only God’s grace can sanctify and elevate our human nature and enable us to do good even to evildoers.

Jesus wants that we should avoid not only any sort of revenge but also actively and positively do good to above-mentioned enemies. St. Paul rightly projects the mind of Jesus when he tells the early Christians, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). The motive behind this is to win over our haters, persecutors and insulters with benevolence and generosity after God’s own heart. St. Paul further says that this kind of benevolence towards our enemies “will heap burning coals on their heads” (Rom 12:20) leading to a purification of their evil intentions. Modern St. Paul would have given the example of heaping ice cubes on their heads to melt their anger or resentment and eventually heart itself. A few years ago, in India we were touched by the example shown by Franciscan Clarist Sister Selmi, the younger sister of Sr. Rani Maria. She visited a prisoner named Mr Samundar Singh, who had brutally murdered Sr. Rani Maria by stabbing her about 54 times, to offer him a ‘rakhi’. [‘Rakhi’ is a band of string tied around the hand by a sister to her brother on a feast day (also called ‘RAKHI’) as a sign of sisterly love.] This benevolent gesture of public pardon by calling the murderer “my brother” melted his heart in such a way that he began to weep bitterly. Later on it led to his conversion from a murderer to a follower of Christ.

Jesus’ instruction on non-resistance of evildoers should be understood to mean avoidance of violent resistance that may breed further violence. That does not include the passive resistance which we sometimes need to offer to unjust oppressors and tormenters as exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King (Jr.). When we are wronged by those who hate and persecute us, our first reaction is to teach them a lesson. Jesus tells us not to return violence for violence. Instead of planning revenge and retaliation in our minds, he wants that we plan how to do good.

In Jesus’ time people prayed against their enemies so that God may punish them. Instead, he asks his disciples to pray for the reform of enemies. Since we cannot love easily those who hate and persecute us, he advocates the practice of praying for such people constantly so that with the power of prayer we may be able to overcome bitterness against them. Loving one’s enemies and praying for them is not natural but supernatural. Humanly speaking, what seems to be impossible can become possible with supernatural grace, as Jesus says in another occasion: “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26). Whenever we run to God with the impossibility of forgiving an enemy who has hurt us so deeply, God tell us as he told St. Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor 12:9).

It’s prayer that gives us the power to move from our natural response of vengeance in the face of injury done to us by our enemies to the supernatural response of forgiveness and goodness towards them. It is immaterial whether our prayer will change or convert our enemies. Even if it does not change them, it will change our plan of retaliation against them. We cannot pray for our offenders while keeping hatred and revenge in our hearts. By our constant prayer, they get converted in our hearts first – though we do not know whether they will be converted in reality or not! We should leave it to God. Our prayer is a sure sign that we do not want to nurse hatred for our enemies and are interested in overcoming the harm done by them with the good we wish for them in prayer.

Jesus’ teaching urges us to make our love pro-active and not re-active or reciprocal. Re-active love means we return love for love, help for help, kindness for kindness, and do it only for those who love, help and are kind to us. What is so special about this type of reciprocal love? Jesus asks to go beyond this to make our love complete or perfect. Pro-active love involves doing good to people who do not do any good to us or harm us, or from whom we do not expect any good in return.

5.   Response to God's Word

As God’s children, instead of showing God’s magnanimity, do we go for personal vendetta and even justify it later? What is our response to the culture of hatred, revenge, violence and retaliation around us? Are we a part of it? Were there instances in our life when we won over our enemy’s good will through our kindness to him/her? If not, shall we try it?

6.  A prayer

Lord, I pray for those who are different from me, do not like me, whom I do not like, who get on my nerves, who have hurt me deeply, who insult me, who strike me, take away my belongings, force me to work for them and do not return what is borrowed from me. Holy Lord, purify my negative and bitter feelings towards such people and bless them. Amen.