HOMILY OF 11TH MONDAY OF ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 11TH MONDAY OF ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: RETALIATION
BY: Fr. Paul Karabari
2 Corinthians 6:1-10, Ps. 98:1-4, Matthew 5:38-42
‘Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
Jesus, in the Gospel passage of today (Matthew 5:38-42), enacted a new law of life and destroyed the Old Testament’s ‘law of retaliation’ that stopped people exacting out-of-proportion a revenge. The old law was to ensure that all punishments should be relative to the crime. Jesus, however, took the idea of getting away with as much punishment as was allowed and turned it into forgiveness.
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Jesus said, ‘If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other…also.’ In Jesus’ day, society was built around shame and honour. The left hand was considered unclean; it was not to be used for eating or for hitting. So a blow to the right cheek would be done with the backhand. It was a way to publicly insult someone. A backhanded slap was something done only to a social inferior, such as a slave or a child. So when someone insults you, what should you do? Everyone expects one of two responses: retaliation or cowering. Jesus is saying, ‘Your safety and your honour are in the hands of your heavenly Father.’
Retaliation leads to retaliation. Here, we are asked to break that cycle. Whatever the circumstances, though, God tells us to avoid messy human revenge and allow Him to deal with the wrongdoer. The Apostles learnt to accept that and Paul wrote in Romans (12:19-21), ‘Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ So, It is our job to do as much good as possible. We are called to be light in every dark world around.
Jesus is asking us to love our enemies. To pay back every evil with good. It is a difficult thing to do but it is very possible. It is even rewarding to do so since in our act of love and forgiveness, we define our own fate. It is exactly what we give to others, God will give back to us. Only the merciful will obtain mercy. Only those who forgive will be forgiven.
Long after we think we have forgiven someone, we can still be harbouring hard feelings. Some signs that we still have work to do are these: 1) We keep thinking about the people who have hurt us and become resentful. 2) We avoid them. 3) We rehearse the incident mentally, replaying it in our minds, then bring it up in conversation. 4) We take every opportunity to remind the people who have hurt us what they did. What we are actually doing is trying to justify our unforgiving attitude.
Unforgiveness does not know that its owner is a prisoner. Resentment chains us, and we end up as a hostage to unforgiveness. It is your responsibility to free yourself and accommodate love in your heart even for those who hate you.We must bear the image of the Man of heaven. Dwelling on something that someone did to us, or what someone has said about us, makes us, not them, miserable. We walk around angry, and they probably are not thinking about it. Let us resolve not to allow anyone to have that kind of control over us. Instead, forgive, leave the situation with God, and move on. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. God bless you and your household always through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning.
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