20220220 HALLMARK OF A CHRISTIAN: FORGIVING AND LOVING OUR ENEMIES
20 February, 2022, Sunday, Week 7 in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,11-13,22-23 © |
Do not lift your hand against the Lord's anointed
Saul set off and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand men chosen from Israel to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph.
In the dark David and Abishai made their way towards the force, where they found Saul lying asleep inside the camp, his spear stuck in the ground beside his head, with Abner and the troops lying round him.
Then Abishai said to David, ‘Today God has put your enemy in your power; so now let me pin him to the ground with his own spear. Just one stroke! I will not need to strike him twice.’ David answered Abishai, ‘Do not kill him, for who can lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be without guilt? The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed! But now take the spear beside his head and the pitcher of water and let us go away.’ David took the spear and the pitcher of water from beside Saul’s head, and they made off. No one saw, no one knew, no one woke up; they were all asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.
David crossed to the other side and halted on the top of the mountain a long way off; there was a wide space between them. He called out, ‘Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the soldiers come across and take it. The Lord repays everyone for his uprightness and loyalty. Today the Lord put you in my power, but I would not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed.’
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 15:45-49 © |
The first Adam became a living soul; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit
The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit. The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven. And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn13:34 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:27-38 © |
Love your enemies
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’
HALLMARK OF A CHRISTIAN: FORGIVING AND LOVING OUR ENEMIES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SM 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23; 1 COR 15:45-49; LK 6:27-38]
What is the hallmark of a Christian? Most of us think it is love, love of God and neighbour as taught by our Lord and a commandment given by God to Moses. When asked the greatest of all commandments, the Lord said, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:29-31)
But this is not the entire answer. We need to spell out what Christian love entails. This is what the gospel does today, for Christian love is more than just loving each other. This is not the heart of Christian love. As Jesus in the gospel says, “If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.” Loving those who love us is but a human way of loving. We do not need supernatural strength to love those who love us. It is normal for us to expect the same treatment we give to others. As the Lord said, “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.”
What distinguishes Christian love from human love is the call to love those who do not love us and our enemies. The Lord teaches us, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you.” Indeed, this is a very tall order because this kind of love is totally an unselfish love. A person who loves in such a manner goes out of himself to the other. His love is not self-centred but truly other-centred. He loves without conditions and without expectations. He does not love in order to be loved. He loves freely and generously. He loves because he wants to love and not because he is compelled to love or hope to be rewarded in some ways. Instead of being absorbed with his pain, he heals his enemies.
For this reason, the Lord said those who “love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return … will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” Indeed, they are like God because they are truly the sons and daughters of God, living His life, sharing in His love, and sharing His love. When we are able to love in such a manner, the greatest reward is the joy of loving freely. Only when love is free, is love liberating, fulfilling and empowering. This explains why most human love are unfulfilling, insecure, possessive, demanding and enslaving. This is because those who claim to love us are so insecure about themselves that they use their love for us to control us, to make demands on us, possess us and make us feel obliged to love them in return. But when we are obliged to love, then love is no longer free. Without freedom in love, love cannot be a joy, cannot be liberating or empowering.
In the first reading, David is exemplary in forgiving his enemy, Saul. He was being pursued by Saul in the wilderness of Judah. Saul could see that David was a rising star, being a brave and successful warrior. He was getting too popular for his liking. Was David ambitious for the throne? It was possible although he denied it. However, the scriptures portrayed David as the innocent party and magnanimous in his dealing with Saul in spite of the injustices and false accusations he suffered. So twice, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with a spear, a symbol of power of the king. Eventually he was banished from the royal house and became a fugitive. However, God eventually vindicated David and blessed him with the kingship.
This was because David honoured the election of God. As far as David was concerned, Saul was God’s anointed one. God’s choice must be respected. Even though he had two chances to assassinate King Saul, one in the cave when Saul was relieving himself and the other when he was fast asleep, yet David did not seize the opportunity and forbade his soldiers to kill him when they wanted to. Instead, David relied on God to vindicate him. He was patient to wait for God’s vindication. Even when God delayed to help him, he remained committed to the Lord. He refused to take vengeance into his own hands. He exercised patience and restraint. He appealed to God to protect him. David believed that God could be trusted to handle his oppressors. As far as he was concerned, Saul’s destiny was in God’s hands, not his. He used those occasions to demonstrate his sincerity and loyalty to King Saul. This is so unlike us when it comes to dealing with our enemies. We would act like David’s men who would seize the opportunity to destroy our enemies. We would not be that patient and we will take things into our own hands even though such people are leaders appointed by God.
David’s trust in God was not in vain. Saul was moved to admit his wrong and blessed David. Saul replied, “I have done wrong; come back, my son David, for I will never harm you again, because my life was precious in your sight today; I have been a fool, and have made a great mistake. Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” (1 Sm 26:21,25) Saul admitted he was a fool. But David was not a fool because he knew that if he were to return, Saul’s jealousy would kill him. David would rather remain with Yahweh to see him through. God was his hope and life. “As your life was precious today in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he rescue me from all tribulation.” (1 Sm 26:24) Truly, “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.”
What about us? How can we love in this manner if not by following David’s example of faith and intimacy with the Lord? Unless we know the Lord and have confidence in Him, we will take things into our own hands. We will act in self-defence, protecting ourselves against our enemies. Faith overcomes all trials. Faith will help us to be patient in dealing with our enemies. We must seek protection from the Lord. Without faith in Christ and the power of His death and resurrection, we would not be able to live out the command that the Lord gave to us to love our enemies. That was how St Peter reflected on the Lord’s passion. He wrote, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.” (1 Pt 2:21-23)
Secondly, we must be filled with the compassion of the Father. Jesus said, “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.” Feeling with our enemies, those who cheat us, those who take advantage of us, those who slander us, require that we go out of ourselves and identify with their fears, pains and anxiety. We must imitate the Father’s compassion for us. If we have received the Father’s compassion, we will act the same way.
Finally, we must find strength in His resurrection. Sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection means to be a New Creation. His resurrection is His vindication. So too, we know that we will be ultimately vindicated, even if not in this life, surely in the next. As for now, we are called to live out the life of sonship with the confidence that we will share Jesus’ resurrection when we die. St Paul wrote, “As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven. And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.” We must seek and endeavour to be different from the world. Having received His Spirit, we too must lead men and women to enter into an encounter with the Risen Lord. May we show Christ’s compassion and forgiveness in us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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