A Homily – The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)
First Reading – Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 ©
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 102(103):1-4,
8, 10, 12-13 ©
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians
3:16-23 ©
Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23
Alternative Acclamation – 1 John 2:5
The
Gospel According to Matthew – 5:38 - 48 ©
(NJB)
Give thanks to those the loving, to the peacemakers; bless them as you are able. Bless all of God’s children, bless them as God does, love everyone: the good and the bad, the helpful and the harmful, the just and the unjust.
Remember this!
God is not a king, God is not a Lord. God does not favor one group over another. God does not intervene in the affairs of human beings…and God has made everyone free.
Remember that the living God dwells within the living you, and within the living God everyone comes to be: all beings, at all times, in all places have there being in God.
God dwells in you, and I, in your adversary (whoever that might be); God is present in everyone and where God is present, God is present fully.
Be mindful!
Wisdom is wisdom, and folly is folly, and you are not special except insofar as you are loved.
You are loved no-more, and no-less than any other; you are no-more and no-less wise; you are no-more and no-less a fool.
We are all journeying along the way, and the way of our journey leads to God, the beginning and the end of all things and beings.
Be Mindful!
The grace of God is not transactional. Love fosters love, and there is always love for the divine is always with you. God dwells in all people, regardless of their character or the quality of their life judged by whatever standard you might care to devise.
Some people bear are able to bear witness to the way, to exemplify it through their actions…emulate them. Others confronted us with the need to be merciful, to demonstrate through our own actions the same spirit of mercy and forgiveness Jesus called us to. Some express the love of God, while others call for a loving response. listen to them, learn from them, try to understand them—each as they are.
Consider the Gospel for today:
The traditions holds that the old law was a vehicle for retribution; in it there was little consideration for mercy. Under the old law it was thought that whether you do good deeds or bad deeds you are paid in equal measure.
Most religious systems adhere to a view of justice based on this concept. The laws of Karma articulated in what we refer to as Hinduism are the most succinctly articulated and concisely conceptualized version of this system.
Every religious tradition that directs its adherents believers to some kind of afterlife, utilizes some variant of a mythology that shows the individual being weighed or measured on the scales of justice before receiving their eternal reward, or punishment, as the case might be.
In the aforementioned Hindu system of beliefs, the individual remains on the wheel of life until the karmic scales are balanced, at which point they are released.
The Jains, the Sikhs and the Baha’i, all imagine something very much the same, imagining that the soul enters the world in a state of purity and light, but life in the flesh, which entangles the soul in the dirty business of existence…soils them.
Life makes a person unclean., and upon coming to this realization the task is then to move toward the light, avoiding all things that contaminate the soul, until at the end they are once again burning pure and bright.
Allow me to reprise: the old law was a law of retribution, it was only one stage better than the law of terror which read: Not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but a head for an eye and a tribe for a head.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is somewhat better in its approximation to true justice, but it is not best!
Jesus instructed us in the divine law, and the divine law is reflected in the way of mercy; teaching us that to sacrifice (to make something holy) is to forgive, and this is the path to holiness.
First
Reading – Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 ©
You
Must Love Your Neighbour as Yourself
The
Lord spoke to Moses; he said: ‘Speak to the whole community of the sons of
Israel and say to them:
‘“Be
holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
‘“You
must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must openly tell him,
your neighbour, of his offence; this way you will not take a sin upon yourself.
You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children
of your people. You must love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”’
Responsorial
Psalm – Psalm 102(103):1-4, 8, 10, 12-13 ©
The
Lord is compassion and love.
My
soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy name.
My
soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.
The
Lord is compassion and love.
It
is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals every one of your ills,
who
redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion.
The
Lord is compassion and love.
The
Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
He
does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.
The
Lord is compassion and love.
As
far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.
As
a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
The
Lord is compassion and love.
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 ©
You
Belong to Christ and Christ Belongs to God
Didn’t
you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living
among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him,
because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple.
Make
no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the
ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really
can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As
scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they
are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is
nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world,
life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you
belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.
Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23
Alleluia,
alleluia!
If
anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall
come to him.
Alleluia!
Alternative Acclamation – 1 John 2:5
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Whenever
anyone obeys what Christ has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him.
Alleluia!
The Gospel According to Matthew – 5:38
- 48 ©
Love Your Enemies
Jesus
said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth
for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the
contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well;
if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as
well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to
anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.
‘You
have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy.
But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;
in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to
rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest
men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any
credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your
greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the
pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your
heavenly Father is perfect.’
The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
(Year A)
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