September 09, 2010 - Thursday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13 * Ps 139 * Lk 6:27-38

LOVE OF ENEMIES

Jesus said, "But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit (is) that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

 

GOD, A POLICEMAN OR SANTA CLAUS?

T o some, hell is a place of punishment and heaven a place of reward. Some look on God as a policeman, who tries to catch us when we make a mistake and sends us to prison; others think of him as a Santa Claus, who counts up all our good deeds and puts rewards in our stockings at the end of the year. God however is neither a police man nor a Santa Claus. God is love and perfect love. In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us unending mercy and see us come home. Jesus asks us to reflect God's perfect love in our dealings with others. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (Lk 6:27). Of course, we are not God and so can't love others as perfectly as God does. Even in a family, no father or mother can love their children perfectly, no husband or wife can love each other with unlimited love. There is no human love that is not broken somewhere. When our broken love is the only love we have, should we despair? No. We can still live our broken love as a partial reflection of God's perfect love, forgive each other's limitations and enjoy together the love we can offer.

(Taken from His Word for Today by Vima Dasan, S.J, published by Paulines. Visit us at www.paulines.ph or at Paulines Media Centers.)

 

Sower’s Thought: "Jesus Christ merited grace for us. By means of our prayer, especially by means of the Eucharist, we can in some way, recover the lost gift of integrity. The person who prays obtains the gift of actual grace, such grace is strength for the will and light for the mind; it helps reduce our whims and the concupiscence of the flesh." - Blessed James Alberione, Founder of the Pauline Family