7TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME HOMILY – YEAR C 2025
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES! REALLY??
Lk 6.27-38 1Sam 26,2.7-9,11-13,22-23 1Cor 15.45-49
Well, where do we go with this one? Jesus’ teaching runs directly counter to what we would normally see as a reasonable reaction to avoiding or ignoring our enemies, rather than trying to love them. And it doesn’t really make too much sense of not expecting something back, when the understanding is that it was only a loan, not a gift! Then the order to turn the other cheek sounds a bit naïve and not all that sensible, as giving in to the bully can only tend to make things worse.
Peter Murnane OP (a Dominican priest in Melbourne) writes about Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Muslim trained in London and Harvard, who returned home to Gaza to work as a medical doctor. In 2009, an Israeli tank shell was fired into his home, resulting in the deaths of his 3 little daughters. Despite this terrible loss and tragedy, he then decided to write a book titled “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity”. As Peter says: “His decision perfectly fulfils the desire, deep in our human nature, to work together with all other people, to strengthen love rather than succumb to hostility, hatred and destruction.” And doesn’t this point to the fact we can’t restrict Jesus’ command to just Christians either!
The commentators suggest that Luke is following up on the beatitudes and woes proclaimed by Jesus, with concrete practical advice as to how to apply these principles in reality. It’s all very well, though, to suggest that just standing there and taking insults and abuse in a passive way, is a good idea, when common sense tells us it’s not! At least, the thought might be to get out of harm’s way, and protect ourselves. There’s nothing wrong in that, is there?
It seems to me that interpretation is needed to be practical and reasonable. Jesus’ teaching is often in the style of polemics, or extremes, in order to wake us up and take notice of what he is getting at. His law of love is at the heart of his preaching, and it is not just about nice words, platitudes and prayers, as words must be translated into action.
Someone said to me recently, it is so difficult, if not impossible, to be forgiving or non-judgemental, where another person speaks and behaves irrationally, spreading false information, and acting as if no-one else counts, but oneself. Isn’t that true? I had to agree with him. I guess, however, this requires a response which is corrective, speaking one’s mind and telling the truth, not just ignoring or following the same selfish, deluded path.
So, today’s Gospel is about forgiveness, compassion and understanding of others, not being judgemental, but giving another chance, and allowing for, and encouraging improvement in attitude and behaviour.
Then again, isn’t it a natural reaction or feeling to wish for retaliation when we are wronged or hurt by someone? This is the human response, but Jesus is calling for something better, by urging restraint, and letting go of the hurt, by forgiving and overcoming the urge for revenge. Empathy and forgiveness are to come the fore, for the person who professes faith in Jesus and wishes to live out his message in real life.
The old so-called Golden Rule was to “Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you”, which was an improvement on the blunt “Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth”! It’s clear that this was not good enough for Jesus, who proclaims a new ethic for Christian behaviour, with the law of love, in the spirit of the Beatitudes.
Luke’s Gospel, in particular, portrays Jesus as constantly reaching out to traditional ‘enemies’ of mainstream Jews, Samaritans in particular, with the parable of the Good Samaritan as a highlight, contrasting the outsider who stops to offer assistance, to the self-righteous religious types, who cross to the other side, with all sorts of lame excuses for self-justification to take no action, or turn a blind eye. Compassion and care are the Christian responses required by Jesus, in every human situation.
As Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap puts it: “(Jesus) knew that love is a power, not a limitation. So he spoke of love as a dynamic flow, not to be stopped by the obstacles of enmity and hatred, nor by the discomfort of abuse in word and deed… It is a generosity that gives more rather than less. It makes you stand in the shoes of your brother or sister to look out at the world through their eyes. Then you will understand their pain, and you will be slow to condemn or pass sentence. Love is as much greater than injury as goodness is greater than evil. Therefore, love will always find the power to forgive… The dream of Jesus saw a world where the Father’s unconditional love was clearly reflected. He saw the barriers of distrust removed, and the legacies of hatred dissolved. He saw the hurts of life healed by compassion and the wounds of misunderstanding healed by forgiveness. The power to transform the world into his dream would be love. He lived according to that vision and power. And his rule of life was a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.”
Isn’t it a pity that this attitude is not more pervasive in our world today, where the tendency is to blame others for what goes wrong and to justify bad behaviour with excuses. Perhaps worst of all is the ongoing reaction to see conflict and war as means of resolving grievances and differences. Human and so-called Christian history is a sad reflection of that failure to apply the principles of Jesus to life.
And still, we keep hoping and trying, in this Jubilee Year of Hope!
john hannon 23rd February 2025