First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"This day the Lord, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the Lord:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the Lord is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God,
as he promised."
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
R./ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R./ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R./ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
R./ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
"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,
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 and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple,» says the psalm 1 of the Entrance Antiphon in today’s Liturgy. The law of the Lord is proposed to us as perfect. It seems reasonable to confront our criteria, our judgments, and our actions with what is perfect. Then, in the reading of the Word, with Psalm 118 we say, «I want to keep your decrees exactly,» to end—once the purpose is made—imploring, «do not abandon me.» Because certainly, will or desire is not enough, and we need grace to be faithful.
Jesus, like every pious Jew, knew the Law and the prophets. He had read and heard them in the Synagogue since the Bar Mitzvah ceremony, through which Jewish males, upon turning 13, assume their responsibility to fulfill the precepts. We believe that Jesus is the best human being and also the Son consubstantial with the Father. And therefore, what Jesus says is the word of God, Holy Trinity. In the books attributed to Moses, it is not written «you shall hate your enemy,» but it is in other books of the scriptures. That is why «but I say to you, love your enemies» must have sounded like a scandal to his disciples.
Hating the enemy responds to human logic. Loving him is divine logic. And Jesus Christ asks us to enter into that logic, which is of a different order. To love according to God is to rise above the feeling, the sympathy, the liking or disliking that others produce in us.
Yesterday, the Lord asked us for reconciliation, which means to reconcile again. To recover harmony. Today, he asks us to extend love to those who hate us, have offended us, are a threat, bother us, or, ultimately, we would prefer they disappear.
Love for enemies includes something more: praying for those who persecute us. We cannot continue to hate them if we pray for them. By praying, we put them before God. Can we hate in his presence? As Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the Cross, we are called to pray. Today, Christians suffer persecution in many places. Sometimes the attack leaves no room for the testimony of the word, other times it does, and they die forgiving. Let us learn from them and from the innumerable triumphant Church of the Saints who took the following of Christ very seriously.
Virginia Fernández
Introduction
The life of a pious Jew could be summed up as a response to God’s covenant of love with a covenant loyalty. This is also the life of a Christian, even more so: as God takes the initiative of offering his gratuitous love to his people and to each of us, so we try to give him a response of faithful love and offer to our neighbor a spontaneous, gratuitous love which comes from the depth of our being and commits us beyond the call of the law. Christian life is then communion with God, communion with people, even with enemies, for there should be no enemies for Christians.
Opening Prayer
Lord God, from you comes the initiative of love.
You seek us out and you tell us:
“I am your God; you are my people.”
You love us in Jesus Christ, your Son.
God, may our response of love
go far beyond the demands of any law.
May we seek you and commune with you
in the deepest of our being
and may we express our gratitude to you
by going to our neighbor
with a love that is spontaneous like yours.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
General Intercessions
– That our Church and our Christian communities may be places of forgiveness, where we let God’s sun shine on good and bad alike, we pray:
– That all of us may let our conscience guide us to choose good above evil, also when it is uncomfortable, we pray:
– That love may remain or become again the key to our understanding of all laws and commandments, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, loving Father,
in this eucharist
your Son gives himself to you and to us
with a free response of total commitment.
May he share this kind of love with us,
that we may become inventive and creative
in committing ourselves to the happiness
of all those far and near,
that together we may be your people
and you our God for ever
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
you have made us your priestly people
to proclaim to the whole world
that you are a saving and loving God.
Grateful for your spontaneous love,
may we be aware of our task,
and be your word that encourages and forgives,
your hands that bless,
your feet that seek out what is lost,
in the strength of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Love your enemies and pray even for those who hurt you. Not an easy task, but something that should be the mark of Christians. We have hurt God and he forgives. We should do the same for one another, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
