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)
The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary
Time (Year A)
Give thanks to God, the
creator of the universe. Give thanks for the peace of God’s blessing, the
blessing of life, and of freedom, of self-determination and every other aspect
of our being that allows us to be persons.
Give thanks to those who
are loving, to the peacemakers and bless them as you are able.
Bless all of God’s
children, as God does, love them all, both 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.
God has made everyone
free.
The living God dwells
within the living you, and in the living I. God, the creator of the universe
dwells in everyone, in all beings, at all times, in all places.
God dwells in you, and I,
and your enemy (whoever that might be), 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 in the
way, and the way leads to God.
Be Mindful!
The grace of God is not
transactional.
Love fosters love, but
there is always love and God is always with you.
God dwells in all people, regardless of their
character and the quality of the life they have lived.
Some people bear witness through the quality of their
lives the love that Jesus showed us and asked us to emulate. In others we are
confronted with the need to be merciful, and to demonstrate through our own choices
the qualities of mercy and forgiveness Jesus asked us to show.
Remember this!
God is present in every person. Some express the love
of God, while others call for a loving response.
Consider
the Gospel for today, and be mindful.
The
old law was the law of retribution. In it, there was no room for mercy. Under
the old law it was thought that whether you do good deeds or bad deeds you are
paid back in kind, and you are paid back in equal measure.
Most
of the religious systems in the world adhere to a view of justice based on this
concept. The laws of Karma articulated in Hinduism, are the most succinctly articulated
and concisely conceptualized.
Every
religion that points its believers to some kind of afterlife, has 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 scales are balanced, and then they are released.
The
Jains, the Sikhs and the Baha’i, all imagine something very much the same. They
imagine that the soul enters the world in a state of purity and light, but life
in the flesh entangles them in the dirty business of existence.
They
become soiled.
The
task then is to move toward the light, avoiding all things that contaminate the
soul. Until, at the end they are once again burning pure and bright.
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.
Jesus
instructed us in the divine law, and the divine law is reflected in the way
of mercy; to sacrifice is to forgive, and this is the path to holiness.
Jesus
taught us to go beyond what is ordinary, surpass the conventions, teach love
and mercy, by being loving and merciful, even to those you would shun or fear.
This
is the way and there is no other.
Both
Jesus and the Buddha believed that a person could balance the scales in a
moment. It did not take lifetimes, we are not in bondage to our past, to our
history, to our station, or to our ancestors.
We
are good when we are doing good, we burn brightly when we are on fire with compassion.
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.
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.
Alleluia,
alleluia!
If
anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and
my Father will love him,
and
we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
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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