20171009
CHRISTIAN CHARITY EXTENDS TO ALL, INCLUDING
OUR ENEMIES
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Jonah 1:1-2:1,11 ©
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Jonah flees from his call and is shipwrecked
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The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah son of Amittai:
‘Up!’ he
said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great city, and inform them that their wickedness has
become known to me.’ Jonah decided to run away from the Lord, and to go to
Tarshish. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish; he paid his
fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish, to get away from the Lord.
But the Lord unleashed a violent wind on the sea, and there was such a great
storm at sea that the ship threatened to break up. The sailors took fright, and
each of them called on his own god, and to lighten the ship they threw the
cargo overboard. Jonah, however, had gone below and lain down in the hold and
fallen fast asleep. The boatswain came upon him and said, ‘What do you mean by
sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps he will spare us a thought, and not
leave us to die.’ Then they said to each other, ‘Come on, let us draw lots to
find out who is responsible for bringing this evil on us.’ So they cast lots,
and the lot fell to Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, what is your business?
Where do you come from? What is your country? What is your nationality?’ He
replied, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made
the sea and the land.’ The sailors were seized with terror at this and said,
‘What have you done?’ They knew that he was trying to escape from the Lord,
because he had told them so. They then said, ‘What are we to do with you, to
make the sea grow calm for us?’ For the sea was growing rougher and rougher. He
replied, ‘Take me and throw me into the sea, and then it will grow calm for
you. For I can see it is my fault this violent storm has happened to you.’ The
sailors rowed hard in an effort to reach the shore, but in vain, since the sea
grew still rougher for them. They then called on the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, do
not let us perish for taking this man’s life; do not hold us guilty of innocent
blood; for you, the Lord, have acted as you have thought right.’ And taking
hold of Jonah they threw him into the sea; and the sea grew calm again. At this
the men were seized with dread of the Lord; they offered a sacrifice to the
Lord and made vows.
The Lord had
arranged that a great fish should be there to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained
in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. The Lord spoke to the
fish, which then vomited Jonah on to the shore.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Jonah 2:3-5,8 ©
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You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
Out of my distress I cried to the Lord
and he answered me;
from the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you have heard my voice.
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
You cast me into the abyss, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood surrounded me.
All your waves, your billows,
washed over me.
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
And I said: I am cast out
from your sight.
How shall I ever look again
on your holy Temple?
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
While my soul was fainting within me,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came before you
into your holy Temple.
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn13:34
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 10:25-37 ©
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There was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to
him, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is
written in the Law? What do you read there?’ He replied, ‘You must love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,
and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘You have answered
right,’ said Jesus ‘do this and life is yours.’
But the man
was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’
Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and
fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made
off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the
same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same
way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he
saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He
then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after
him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look
after him,” he said “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you
have.” Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the
man who fell into the brigands‘ hands?’ ‘The one who took pity on him’ he
replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself.’
CHRISTIAN CHARITY EXTENDS TO ALL, INCLUDING OUR ENEMIES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JONAH 1:1 – 2:1.11; JON 2:3-5,8; LK 10:25-37]
In the gospel,
Jesus said, “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, so that you may be sons of your Father who is
in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what
reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute
only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles
do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.’” (Mt 5:43-48)
This is the
theme of today’s scripture lessons. The call to love our neighbours does
not include just our loved ones and our friends; not even mere strangers but
even our enemies. For many of us our love is only given to our loved
ones. Indeed, although we claim to be Christ’s disciples, in truth we are
not; we only love those who love us or are close to us. With strangers,
we might give some money to help the poor. But what about helping our
enemies? What about helping those who have hurt us or cheated us of our
money, reputation or even our work?
I was
watching this Korean drama about this lady doctor whose grandmother died in
surgery under the knife of her director because he was negligent. She could not
forgive him. One day, the director himself had a tumor growing next to
the spinal cord. It was a dangerous operation, but although she was the
best doctor, she would not do it for him inspite of the plea of her daughter
who was her fellow colleague. Eventually, she agreed to assist the
professor who was performing the surgery because she remembered how her
grandmother passed away peacefully all because she had total confidence in the
doctor. So she decided to assist in the surgery so that she could give
her director confidence in the surgery. This is what loving and forgiving
our enemies and those who hurt us is all about. She remembered that she
was a doctor and she was called to save lives, regardless whoever the patient
was. So she gave her best and the director’s surgery was a success. She did
not take into account the mistake and pain her director had caused her.
This was also
the case of Jesus when He was at His passion and on the cross. In spite of what His
enemies had done to Him, He prayed for His enemies and made excuses for
them. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they
do.” (Lk 23:34) Jesus did not simply teach us to love our
enemies, but He demonstrated by His own life in the way He dealt with His
enemies. With Judas, He gave him a chance to repent. “He was
troubled in spirit, and testified, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will
betray me.’” (cf Jn 13:21-30) When Peter denied Him three times, “The Lord
turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he
had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And
he went out and wept bitterly.” (Lk 22:61f)
He forgave Peter after His resurrection by allowing Him to override his
threefold denial with a threefold affirmation of love for Him. (cf Jn 21:15-19)
Indeed, the
point of today’s scripture lessons is that God loves every one of us,
regardless who we are. We are all His children even when we have sinned against
Him. He desires to save every one. The love of God extends
beyond the Israelites and the Jews, His chosen people. On the contrary,
they were chosen so that they could be instruments of His love and mercy to all
of humanity. Indeed, Israel was chosen to be the light for all nations.
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have
put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.” (Isa 42:1)
The love and blessings that God gives to Israel and to us are not for ourselves
to keep but to be shared with all the nations.
Unfortunately,
most of us behave like Jonah and the Jews. Jonah rejected the call of God
to preach to the Ninevites, the capital of the powerful Assyria. The Assyrians were known for
their brutality, wickedness and immorality. The prophet Nahum described
the Assyrians as people who plotted against God, exploited the poor and
helpless, cruel in war and involved in idolatry and witchcraft. He was
sent to the Ninevites to warn them of the impending judgement if they did not
repent, but that they will receive God’s mercy and forgiveness if they
repented. But deep in his heart Jonah wanted God to punish them. He
did not want God to show mercy to this barbaric nation and be spared of God’s
judgment. Hence, instead of going east to Nineveh, 500 miles northeast of
Israel, he took the ship to Tarshish, a city in the South west of Spain which
was 2500 miles west of Israel. He deliberately refused to answer the call
of God to save the Ninevites.
This was the
same attitude the Jews had in today’s gospel as well. They all knew the
laws of the Lord but they did not fulfill them. The lawyer, like his
fellow Jews, was just interested in an intellectual discourse on the
commandments of God but he was not concerned with the practice. Instead
they sought to justify themselves for not loving their enemies. This made
Jesus tell them the story of the Good Samaritan. The priest in the story
was seeking to evade difficulties in attending to the wounded man. The
Levite was only curious. But it was the Samaritan who took care of the
injured traveler. He paid for his accommodation and medical fees.
Yet, it was significant that when the Lord asked the lawyer, “Which of these
three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the
brigands’ hands?”, the laywer replied, “The one who took pity on him.”
His hatred for the Samaritans was so intense that he could not bring himself to
say that the man was a Samaritan. By so doing, he betrayed his knowledge
of the laws of love which requires him to “love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and
your neighbour as yourself.” Because he failed to do this, he had no
life.
Consequently,
we must not fall into the same attitude of the Jews. This parable
underscores that if we accept the new life of grace that the Lord gives us to
us, we must manifest it in a life of love, mercy and compassion for all
regardless, even for our enemies. Loving our enemies and forgiving them is what distinguishes
us as Christians. St Paul urges us, “Repay no one evil for evil, but take
thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it
depends upon you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves,
but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will
repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his
head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:17-21)
If we bear grudges in our hearts, it shows that we have not acted on the Holy
Spirit’s love in us. So long as our hearts are insensitive to those who
are suffering, even if they are our enemies, we lack the compassion and heart
of God to feel with them. We cannot justify ourselves like the
lawyer in refusing love to those who are in need. Christian love means to
reach out to anyone who is in need, regardless of race, language or religion or
status.
The failure
to respond to God’s invitation to love our enemies and do good for them could
cost us our peace and bring harm to ourselves. We will not be at
peace within us. This was the case of Jonah. In trying to run away from
God’s call, he landed himself into worse troubles. He had to pay almost
the price of his life for running away from his responsibilities. His
disobedience not only endangered his own life but the lives of others around
him. When evil happens to them, we will feel guilty, as Jonah did when he saw
how his action was causing the lives of the sailors to be at risk. That
was why he felt the need to pay for his crime by asking them to throw him out
of the ship so that he would not have to live with the guilt of causing the
people on board the ship so much misery. We should be ashamed, like the
Jews and Jonah, because we read that the pagan sailors showed more compassion
than Jonah towards the Ninevites! Unbelievers embarrass us when they show
in their lives that they are much more loving, forgiving and charitable towards
those in need than we who profess our love for Christ as our Saviour. Let
us not be counter-witnesses of our Lord but love as He loved.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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