Imitating The Father In Heaven
Introduction
If we are capable of doing it by the grace of God, there is perhaps nothing that brings us closer to God and makes us most like him than the readiness to forgive and the aptitude to love even enemies. These are so contrary to our feelings of not wanting to be anyone’s fool or doormat. And yet, the gospel insists: You who were God’s enemies, you who have been forgiven, forgive, be reconciled, be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.
First Reading: A Man with a Great Heart
David is a fugitive from Saul’s revenge. When he has Saul in his power, he spares his life, for the king’s life is sacred. God’s mercy becomes visible in David.
1 Reading: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
In those days, Saul went down to the desert of Ziph
with three thousand picked men of Israel,
to search for David in the desert of Ziph.
So David and Abishai went among Saul’s soldiers by night
and found Saul lying asleep within the barricade,
with his spear thrust into the ground at his head
and Abner and his men sleeping around him.
Abishai whispered to David:
“God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day.
Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear;
I will not need a second thrust!”
But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him,
for who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”
So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head,
and they got away without anyone’s seeing or knowing or awakening.
All remained asleep,
because the LORD had put them into a deep slumber.
Going across to an opposite slope,
David stood on a remote hilltop
at a great distance from Abner, son of Ner, and the troops.
He said: “Here is the king’s spear.
Let an attendant come over to get it.
The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness.
Today, though the LORD delivered you into my grasp,
I would not harm the LORD’s anointed.”
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Second Reading: We Have to Become Like Christ
We tend to follow merely our natural human inclinations. Christ is our model; he shows us in himself the kind of spiritual persons we are called to become and he gives us the strength to do so.
2 Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Brothers and sisters:
It is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being,
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
Alleluia: John 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Be Compassionate as Your Father Is Compassionate
Jesus and his gospel are a constant challenge to go beyond a merely human code in dealing with other people. He calls us to follow him on his radical way, with the merciful love of God for us as our model.
Gospel Luke: 6:27-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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 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.”
Commentary
Jesus tells us to give without expecting a reward. But then he goes on immediately to tell about the reward in store for us if we do!
St. Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century put this in a cryptic phrase, “God is not loved without reward, but God should be loved without thought of reward.” If we were to love God only for the sake of some reward, we would love the reward, and God only as a means of acquiring it. But God is not a means to anything; God is, as we say, the end, the goal.
What is the reward that Jesus promises? “You will be sons and daughters of the Most High.” You will be like your Father in heaven. What is the Father like? “He is kind towards the ungrateful and the wicked.” Or as Matthew’s gospel puts it, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (5:45). The reward is something we will be, not something we will have. In other words, your reward for being generous is that you will be made capable of being endlessly generous! Anything less would be bribery.
Blessing
In this Eucharistic celebration
Jesus has spoken to us a demanding message.
Let us not take his words
as oratorical exaggerations
but as a challenge demanding an answer.
If we call on a merciful God,
we are obliged to be merciful.
And if we are afraid this is above our forces,
be assured that we can do it
with the strength and blessing of almighty God,
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with one another
the Lord’s road of peace. R/ Thanks be to God.