20231009 CHRISTIAN CHARITY EXTENDS TO ALL, INCLUDING OUR ENEMIES
09 October 2023, Monday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jonah 1:1-2:1,11 © |
Jonah flees from his call
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.
Responsorial Psalm | Jonah 2:3-5,8 © |
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.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
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 10:25-37 © |
The good Samaritan
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; JONAH 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?
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 words 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)
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 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 for the inhabitants to 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 fulfil 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 traveller. 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 lawyer 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 required 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 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, 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 in worse troubles. He had to almost pay 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 His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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