(1 Kg 21:17-29; 51; Mt 5:43-48)
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The readings today are like a two-act play, conveying the message to love others as Jesus has loved us, by being as merciful as the Father is merciful.
Elijah and King Ahab in the first reading mirror the events with Nabob and King David, after David also committed murder and stole the wife of Uriah. Like David, Ahab repents from the heart, God has mercy on him, and the certainly well-deserved punishment is deferred.
The psalm is the famed Miserere, and acknowledgement of guilt and a cry for mercy, attributed to King David, whose experience of the unconditional love of God as forgiveness transformed him into the only true King Israel ever had.
The Gospel acclamation and the Gospel combine to provide the second act: we are to love others the same way the Father loves us – perfectly and mercifully.
What Jesus gives us in this gospel transcends all the laws of Old Testament that were largely based on the Law of Talion – “eye for eye,” “tit-for-tat” as we saw in yesterday’s readings. We are to “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.” The gospel of Luke puts it more accurately as a call to be merciful, just as our heavenly Father is merciful. That means to forgive from the heart over and over again (seventy-seven times) and to seek to understand the other rather than judge or punish the other.
Speaking at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, John Allen Jr. spoke about the research he was doing for a new book on the persecution of Christians around the world. He mentioned an enthusiastic, vibrant Kenyan woman he met whose family was killed by terrorists. When asked how she could be so positive in the light of what happened to her family, she replied firmly, “My greatest treasure is my faith in Jesus, who taught us the way of forgiveness. They took away most of my family – there is no way I was going to let them take away my faith.”
The Eucharist puts us in intimate contact with Jesus, and his mercy. May our celebration empower us to live his new commandment: love one another as he has loved us, by being merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful.
Thanks for the inspiring homilies and messages about having forgiveness and love that comes from the heart. We should always forgive people who have hurt us over and over again . We should have a heart to love one another like loving our neighbors and loving our enemies. No matter how many wrongs we have done God has that mercy and unconditional love to love us back and forgive us for our sins. We should establish that intimate relationship with God and experience that love and understand him better and what kind of things he had done for us. He wants us to show our love to people and help others if they are in need. This is one of the ways in gaining his unconditional love and mercy. Celebrating the Eucharist during mass is experiencing the relationship with Jesus Christ and knowing about him and starting to trust him. Many Blessings ! Blessings!
I am already feeling the love and the heart felt sense fro the heart by reading your homilies. Thanks Bishop Lavoie