Book of Leviticus 19,1-2.17-18. The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy. "You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
Psalms 103(102)
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
He pardons all your iniquities, he heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. Not according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
First Letter to the Corinthians 3,16-23. Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: "He catches the wise in their own ruses," and again: "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you, Paul or Apollos or Kephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5,38-48.
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that 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. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow." You have heard that 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, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
FAUSTI - Jesus proposes and gives the new economy of love, which wins that of selfishness.Five examples follow , which are also five rules with which they show how to win evil with good. (Rom12,21). The first rule to win evil is to set oneself against evil and not wicked.. Evil first and foremost does evil to those who do it, and it must not be returned. The wicked, first victim of evil, he is my brother, who must be loved with more heart. Jesus loves sinners because He hates sin; I hate sinners because I love sin. Sinners are subject of compassion for Him, of detestation for me.. My dislike for sinner reveals my sympathy for sin, my disassociation from wicked , my participation to evil Only a pure heart loves tenderly the sinner. He has the compassion that overcomes evil itself. . Rather than returning by doubling it, he has the strength to bear it, to suffer-with the other, as the Lamb of God that brings and takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). If the first rule to win evil is not to return it, the second is the disposability to bear the double in order not to redouble it. The Christian "tolerance" is not indifference to evil, but strength to tolerate (bring) upon hitself other's evil is " the lift" of ability to "carry each another's burdens ", that is how to keep the Law of Christ ( Gal 6,2). It 's rare gratuitous love, with which one receives the other as it is. We all need it -the one who is not loved and accepted by anyone, it does not exist! - To love ourselves and to love in our turn, as we are loved. When you read the Bible, it must be remembered that God speaks a human language. There is an evolution in the revelation, from the strong and terrible God, common to all peoples, we come gradually to the gracious and merciful God, forbearing and of great love That let pity of oneself(Gen 4.2).During the Messianic era their swords will be trasformed into ploughshares and their spears into sickles (Is 2,4). Then the wolf too shall live with the lamb, and the Wisdom of the Lord will fill the land as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11: 6, 9). Whit Jesus that time has come : Love for the enemy is the essence of Christianity. To love your enemy means having known God in the Spirit. God in fact has no enemies, but only sons, who are brothers to love for me As All the imperatives of Jesus, they are not impossible burdens, but liberating gifts. The one who does not love the enemy, has not yet the Spirit of the Lord, who here reveals the infinity and the gratuity of His Love (Romans 5: 6-11). Now, loving the enemies and praying for the persecutors, I become what I am: son of the Father. If I do not love the enemy, I am the enemy of God, I do not consider myself His son, and I can not say "Our Father”.>God does not cut the light and water to those who does not pay the bill. His sun and His rain , His love and His mercy, are for everyone, because everybody He recognizes as sons, waiting for someone to recognize Him as Father, accepting the others as brothers.
--The love of the enemy, however, is clear revelation of God's unconditional love. "So be you perfect" The Sermon on the Mount is a mountain range. This verse is the highest point of arrival, the panoramic summit, where you can see everything. "Be holy because I am holy" (LV 11, 44-45-17,1 - 19:21) is the principle of the law. Man is in the image of God, it is himself only if like Him, "the Holy One". Holiness is an attribute of God: He alone is God, Holy, more than any other. His "otherness" is known to us through Jesus. It is of the Father who loves just men and sinners. On the cross, where everything will be accomplished (Jn 19:30) and He will be recognized as the Son (27, 54) we see the holiness of the Father, of whom He is the perfect realization. This holiness does not separate from the world and from the sinner, but becomes compassion that is compromised in any situation, Mercy that comes into any misery. Luke translates this verse of Matthew thus: " Be merciful as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36), where "mercy" is a Hebrew word that means "uterine, motherly" The characteristic of God the Father is His being Mother ! Mercy is more purifying than any "holiness" that divides righteous and unjust. It is the burning holiness of the Cross, the Other Holiness, of the Other, which we encounter in each other, including the enemy !
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS 23-2-2020 Jesus quotes the ancient law: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Mt 5:38; Ex 21:24). We know what that law meant: when someone takes something from you, you are to take the same thing from him. This law of retaliation was actually a sign of progress, since it prevented excessive retaliation. If someone harms you, then you can repay him or her in the same degree; you cannot do something worse. Ending the matter there, in a fair exchange, was a step forward.
But Jesus goes far beyond this: “But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil” (Mt 5:39). But how, Lord? If someone thinks badly of me, if someone hurts me, why can I not repay him with the same currency? “No”, says Jesus. Nonviolence. No act of violence.
We might think that Jesus’ teaching is a part of a plan; in the end, the wicked will desist. But that is not why Jesus asks us to love even those who do us harm. What, then, is the reason? It is that the Father, our Father, continues to love everyone, even when his love is not reciprocated. The Father “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (v. 45). In today’s first reading, he tells us: “You shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). In other words: “Live like me, seek the things that I seek”. And that is precisely what Jesus did. He did not point a finger at those who wrongfully condemned him and put him to a cruel death, but opened his arms to them on the cross. And he forgave those who drove the nails into his wrists (cf. Lk 23:33-34).
If we want to be disciples of Christ, if we want to call ourselves Christians, this is the only way; there is no other. Having been loved by God, we are called to love in return; having been forgiven, we are called to forgive; having been touched by love, we are called to love without waiting for others to love first; having been saved graciously, we are called to seek no benefit from the good we do. You may well say: “But Jesus goes too far! He even says: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44). Surely he speaks like this to gain people’s attention, but he cannot really mean it”. But he really does. Here Jesus is not speaking in paradoxes or using nice turns of phrase. He is direct and clear. He quotes the ancient law and solemnly tells us: “But I say to you: love your enemies”. His words are deliberate and precise.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This is the Christian innovation. It is the Christian difference. Pray and love: this is what we must do; and not only with regard to those who love us, not only with regard to our friends or our own people. The love of Jesus knows no boundaries or barriers. The Lord demands of us the courage to have a love that does not count the cost. Because the measure of Jesus is love without measure. How many times have we neglected that demand, behaving like everyone else! Yet his commandment of love is not simply a challenge; it is the very heart of the Gospel. Where the command of universal love is concerned, let us not accept excuses or preach prudent caution. The Lord was not cautious; he did not yield to compromises. He asks of us the extremism of charity. This is the only legitimate kind of Christian extremism: the extremism of love.
-->Love your enemies. We do well today, at Mass and afterwards, to repeat these words to ourselves and apply them to those who treat us badly, who annoy us, whom we find hard to accept, who trouble our serenity. Love your enemies. We also do well to ask ourselves: “What am I really concerned about in this life? About my enemies, or about those who dislike me? Or about loving?” Do not worry about the malice of others, about those who think ill of you. Instead, begin to disarm your heart out of love for Jesus. For those who love God have no enemies in their hearts.
The worship of God is contrary to the culture of hatred. And the culture of hatred is fought by combatting the cult of complaint. How many times do we complain about the things that we lack, about the things that go wrong! Jesus knows about all the things that don’t work. He knows that there is always going to be someone who dislikes us. Or someone who makes our life miserable. All he asks us to do is pray and love. This is the revolution of Jesus, the greatest revolution in history: from hating our enemy to loving our enemy; from the cult of complaint to the culture of gift. If we belong to Jesus, this is the road we are called to take! There is no other.
True enough, you can object: “I understand the grandeur of the ideal, but that is not how life really is! If I love and forgive, I will not survive in this world, where the logic of power prevails and people seem to be concerned only with themselves”. So is Jesus’ logic, his way of seeing things, the logic of losers? In the eyes of the world, it is, but in the eyes of God it is the logic of winners. As Saint Paul told us in the second reading: “Let no one deceive himself... For the wisdom of this world is folly with God” (1 Cor 3:18-19). God sees what we cannot see. He knows how to win. He knows that evil can only be conquered by goodness. That is how he saved us: not by the sword, but by the cross. To love and forgive is to live as a conqueror. We will lose if we defend the faith by force.
The Lord would repeat to us the words he addressed to Peter in Gethsemane: “Put your sword into its sheath” (Jn 18:11). In the Gethsemanes of today, in our indifferent and unjust world that seems to testify to the agony of hope, a Christian cannot be like those disciples who first took up the sword and later fled. No, the solution is not to draw our sword against others, or to flee from the times in which we live. The solution is the way of Jesus: active love, humble love, love “to the end” (Jn 13:1).
Dear brothers and sisters, today Jesus, with his limitless love, raises the bar of our humanity. In the end, we can ask ourselves: “Will we be able to make it?” If the goal were impossible, the Lord would not have asked us to strive for it. By our own effort, it is difficult to achieve; it is a grace and it needs to be implored. Ask God for the strength to love. Say to him: “Lord, help me to love, teach me to forgive. I cannot do it alone, I need you”. But we also have to ask for the grace to be able to see others not as hindrances and complications, but as brothers and sisters to be loved. How often we pray for help and favours for ourselves, yet how seldom do we pray to learn how to love! We need to pray more frequently for the grace to live the essence of the Gospel, to be truly Christian. For “in the evening of life, we will be judged on love” (Saint John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love, 57).
Today let us choose love, whatever the cost, even if it means going against the tide. Let us not yield to the thinking of this world, or content ourselves with half measures. Let us accept the challenge of Jesus, the challenge of charity. Then we will be true Christians and our world will be more human.
Book of Leviticus
RispondiElimina19,1-2.17-18.
The LORD said to Moses,
"Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.
"You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
Psalms 103(102)
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
First Letter
to the Corinthians 3,16-23.
Brothers and sisters: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: "He catches the wise in their own ruses,"
and again: "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain."
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Kephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you,
and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew 5,38-48.
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that 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. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."
You have heard that 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,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
FAUSTI - Jesus proposes and gives the new economy of love, which wins that of selfishness.Five examples follow , which are also five rules with which they show how to win evil with good. (Rom12,21).
RispondiEliminaThe first rule to win evil is to set oneself against evil and not wicked.. Evil first and foremost does evil to those who do it, and it must not be returned. The wicked, first victim of evil, he is my brother, who must be loved with more heart. Jesus loves sinners because He hates sin; I hate sinners because I love sin. Sinners are subject of compassion for Him, of detestation for me..
My dislike for sinner reveals my sympathy for sin, my disassociation from wicked , my participation to evil
Only a pure heart loves tenderly the sinner. He has the compassion that overcomes evil itself. . Rather than returning by doubling it, he has the strength to bear it, to suffer-with the other, as the Lamb of God that brings and takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29).
If the first rule to win evil is not to return it, the second is the disposability to bear the double in order not to redouble it. The Christian "tolerance" is not indifference to evil, but strength to tolerate (bring) upon hitself other's evil is " the lift" of ability to "carry each another's burdens ", that is how to keep the Law of Christ ( Gal 6,2). It 's rare gratuitous love, with which one receives the other as it is. We all need it -the one
who is not loved and accepted by anyone, it does not exist! - To love ourselves and to love in our turn, as we are loved.
When you read the Bible, it must be remembered that God speaks a human language.
There is an evolution in the revelation, from the strong and terrible God, common to all peoples, we come gradually to the gracious and merciful God, forbearing and of great love That let pity of oneself(Gen 4.2).During the Messianic era their swords will be trasformed into ploughshares and their spears into sickles (Is 2,4). Then the wolf too shall live with the lamb, and the Wisdom of the Lord will fill the land as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11: 6, 9).
Whit Jesus that time has come : Love for the enemy is the essence of Christianity. To love your enemy means having known God in the Spirit. God in fact has no enemies, but only sons, who are brothers to love for me
As All the imperatives of Jesus, they are not impossible burdens, but liberating gifts. The one who does not love the enemy, has not yet the Spirit of the Lord, who here reveals the infinity and the gratuity of His Love (Romans 5: 6-11). Now, loving the enemies and praying for the persecutors, I become what I am: son of the Father. If I do not love the enemy, I am the enemy of God, I do not consider myself His son, and I can not say "Our Father”.>God does not cut the light and water to those who does not pay the bill. His sun and His rain , His love and His mercy, are for everyone, because everybody He recognizes as sons, waiting for someone to recognize Him as Father, accepting the others as brothers.
--The love of the enemy, however, is clear revelation of God's unconditional love.
RispondiElimina"So be you perfect" The Sermon on the Mount is a mountain range. This verse is the highest point of arrival, the panoramic summit, where you can see everything.
"Be holy because I am holy" (LV 11, 44-45-17,1 - 19:21) is the principle of the law.
Man is in the image of God, it is himself only if like Him, "the Holy One".
Holiness is an attribute of God: He alone is God, Holy, more than any other.
His "otherness" is known to us through Jesus. It is of the Father who loves just men and sinners.
On the cross, where everything will be accomplished (Jn 19:30) and He will be recognized as the Son (27, 54) we see the holiness of the Father, of whom He is the perfect realization.
This holiness does not separate from the world and from the sinner, but becomes compassion that is compromised in any situation, Mercy that comes into any misery. Luke translates this verse of Matthew thus: " Be merciful as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36), where "mercy" is a Hebrew word that means "uterine, motherly"
The characteristic of God the Father is His being Mother !
Mercy is more purifying than any "holiness" that divides righteous and unjust. It is the burning holiness of the Cross, the Other Holiness, of the Other, which we encounter in each other, including the enemy !
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS 23-2-2020
RispondiEliminaJesus quotes the ancient law: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Mt 5:38; Ex 21:24). We know what that law meant: when someone takes something from you, you are to take the same thing from him. This law of retaliation was actually a sign of progress, since it prevented excessive retaliation. If someone harms you, then you can repay him or her in the same degree; you cannot do something worse. Ending the matter there, in a fair exchange, was a step forward.
But Jesus goes far beyond this: “But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil” (Mt 5:39). But how, Lord? If someone thinks badly of me, if someone hurts me, why can I not repay him with the same currency? “No”, says Jesus. Nonviolence. No act of violence.
We might think that Jesus’ teaching is a part of a plan; in the end, the wicked will desist. But that is not why Jesus asks us to love even those who do us harm. What, then, is the reason? It is that the Father, our Father, continues to love everyone, even when his love is not reciprocated. The Father “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (v. 45). In today’s first reading, he tells us: “You shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). In other words: “Live like me, seek the things that I seek”. And that is precisely what Jesus did. He did not point a finger at those who wrongfully condemned him and put him to a cruel death, but opened his arms to them on the cross. And he forgave those who drove the nails into his wrists (cf. Lk 23:33-34).
If we want to be disciples of Christ, if we want to call ourselves Christians, this is the only way; there is no other. Having been loved by God, we are called to love in return; having been forgiven, we are called to forgive; having been touched by love, we are called to love without waiting for others to love first; having been saved graciously, we are called to seek no benefit from the good we do. You may well say: “But Jesus goes too far! He even says: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44). Surely he speaks like this to gain people’s attention, but he cannot really mean it”. But he really does. Here Jesus is not speaking in paradoxes or using nice turns of phrase. He is direct and clear. He quotes the ancient law and solemnly tells us: “But I say to you: love your enemies”. His words are deliberate and precise.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This is the Christian innovation. It is the Christian difference. Pray and love: this is what we must do; and not only with regard to those who love us, not only with regard to our friends or our own people. The love of Jesus knows no boundaries or barriers. The Lord demands of us the courage to have a love that does not count the cost. Because the measure of Jesus is love without measure. How many times have we neglected that demand, behaving like everyone else! Yet his commandment of love is not simply a challenge; it is the very heart of the Gospel. Where the command of universal love is concerned, let us not accept excuses or preach prudent caution. The Lord was not cautious; he did not yield to compromises. He asks of us the extremism of charity. This is the only legitimate kind of Christian extremism: the extremism of love.
-->Love your enemies. We do well today, at Mass and afterwards, to repeat these words to ourselves and apply them to those who treat us badly, who annoy us, whom we find hard to accept, who trouble our serenity. Love your enemies. We also do well to ask ourselves: “What am I really concerned about in this life? About my enemies, or about those who dislike me? Or about loving?” Do not worry about the malice of others, about those who think ill of you. Instead, begin to disarm your heart out of love for Jesus. For those who love God have no enemies in their hearts.
RispondiEliminaThe worship of God is contrary to the culture of hatred. And the culture of hatred is fought by combatting the cult of complaint. How many times do we complain about the things that we lack, about the things that go wrong! Jesus knows about all the things that don’t work. He knows that there is always going to be someone who dislikes us. Or someone who makes our life miserable. All he asks us to do is pray and love. This is the revolution of Jesus, the greatest revolution in history: from hating our enemy to loving our enemy; from the cult of complaint to the culture of gift. If we belong to Jesus, this is the road we are called to take! There is no other.
True enough, you can object: “I understand the grandeur of the ideal, but that is not how life really is! If I love and forgive, I will not survive in this world, where the logic of power prevails and people seem to be concerned only with themselves”. So is Jesus’ logic, his way of seeing things, the logic of losers? In the eyes of the world, it is, but in the eyes of God it is the logic of winners. As Saint Paul told us in the second reading: “Let no one deceive himself... For the wisdom of this world is folly with God” (1 Cor 3:18-19). God sees what we cannot see. He knows how to win. He knows that evil can only be conquered by goodness. That is how he saved us: not by the sword, but by the cross. To love and forgive is to live as a conqueror. We will lose if we defend the faith by force.
The Lord would repeat to us the words he addressed to Peter in Gethsemane: “Put your sword into its sheath” (Jn 18:11). In the Gethsemanes of today, in our indifferent and unjust world that seems to testify to the agony of hope, a Christian cannot be like those disciples who first took up the sword and later fled. No, the solution is not to draw our sword against others, or to flee from the times in which we live. The solution is the way of Jesus: active love, humble love, love “to the end” (Jn 13:1).
Dear brothers and sisters, today Jesus, with his limitless love, raises the bar of our humanity. In the end, we can ask ourselves: “Will we be able to make it?” If the goal were impossible, the Lord would not have asked us to strive for it. By our own effort, it is difficult to achieve; it is a grace and it needs to be implored. Ask God for the strength to love. Say to him: “Lord, help me to love, teach me to forgive. I cannot do it alone, I need you”. But we also have to ask for the grace to be able to see others not as hindrances and complications, but as brothers and sisters to be loved. How often we pray for help and favours for ourselves, yet how seldom do we pray to learn how to love! We need to pray more frequently for the grace to live the essence of the Gospel, to be truly Christian. For “in the evening of life, we will be judged on love” (Saint John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love, 57).
Today let us choose love, whatever the cost, even if it means going against the tide. Let us not yield to the thinking of this world, or content ourselves with half measures. Let us accept the challenge of Jesus, the challenge of charity. Then we will be true Christians and our world will be more human.