FROM ENEMY TO NEIGHBOUR
Introduction
It is the ungrateful and risky task of the prophet to speak out against injustice, even when committed by the mighty of this earth.
Jesus concludes part of his Sermon on the Mount with the words “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” A goal not easy to attain! Our love must go out to everyone; it must include even enemies and must imitate God’s love, who lets his sun shine on good and bad alike
Opening Prayer
Father in heaven, God of love,
in your Son Jesus Christ
you have shown us your tenderness
and accepted us, sinful people,
as your sons and daughters.
Share your heart with us,
make us merciful and understanding people,
that we may learn from the way you have treated us
to accept everyone without conditions,
to forget and forgive all hurts,
so that we can become more like you.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading: 1 KINGS 21:17-29
After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: “Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession. This is what you shall tell him, ‘The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession? For this, the LORD says: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'” Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me out, my enemy?” “Yes,” he answered. “Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD’s sight, I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you and will cut off every male in Ahab’s line, whether slave or freeman, in Israel. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah, because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin.” (Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared, “The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.”) “When one of Ahab’s line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, the birds of the sky will devour him.” Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel. He became completely abominable by following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel. When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son.”
Responsorial PSALM 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 11 AND 16
R. (Cf. 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me. R.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.” R.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
then my tongue shall revel in your justice. R.
Alleluia JOHN 13:34
Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment;
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MATTHEW 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Commentary
Mirroring the Father
An eye for an eye and caring for only one’s own people were accepted principles in the then Near Eastern jurisprudence. But, this is a justice that does not heal; it only multiplies the injury and alienates the other. As Mahatma Gandhi observed (as attributed to him), “an eye for an eye makes the world go blind.” It does not redeem; it does not enhance. It only makes us reactive, lowering us to the level of the offender, making us mirror images of each other. As Anthony Storr has noted, nothing resembles an angry cat or a human being so much as another angry cat or human being! What Jesus offers us is a way out of this cycle of violence: transcend the levels of the offender, widen the circle of inclusion, raising ourselves unto the image of the Father who sends light and rain to the good and the bad without discrimination. And, in our mirroring the Father, we may invite the offender to imitate us as well.
Intercessions
– Lord, let your Spirit give us the courage to pray for those who hate or harm us, and to do good to them, we pray:
– Lord, change the hearts of those who cannot forgive or refuse to do so, and remind them how you have forgiven them, we pray:
– Lord, that those in charge of charitable organizations and works may be honest in administering what has been entrusted to them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Heavenly Father,
these are the gifts of peace
we bring before you
to celebrate the feast of love of your Son.
Help us to discover with him
the best that is in each of us
and to create one another anew
with the same liberating and forgiving love
that you have shown us
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Father in heaven,
we have celebrated with your Son
the sacrifice that has brought us peace.
By his words and his life he has taught us
to forgive one another wholeheartedly.
Let his Spirit dwell in us,
that our pardon may be without regret
and that we may go with one another
much farther than we are asked
on the way to each other and to you,
our holy God, now and for ever. Amen!
Blessing
“Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you.” Difficult to do, very difficult. But that’s what Jesus did. Is it impossible for us? May God give you courage and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!