The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, February 22, 2004
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23
Psalm 103:1-4,8,10,12-13
1 Corinthians 15:45-29
Luke 6:27-38

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

There are some gospels where Jesus lays it on the line about what it means to be His disciple, what kind of radically different behavior we must embrace if we expect to inherit everlasting life. Today is one of them.

I’m always taken aback when Jesus reminds His listeners (us) that even sinners love those who love them -- and there’s no credit in that. He seems to know that our broken human nature wants to avoid loving unequivocally and instead “pats itself on the back.”

That is not good enough, Jesus says -- we get no credit for that. Instead we’re to love those who hate and persecute us in imitation of our Heavenly Father, “since He Himself is good to the ungrateful and the wicked.”

But how Lord, are we to do that? How are we going to change our hardened hearts into loving hearts?

Jesus tells us: be compassionate, do not judge, do not condemn. In saying so, He gives us the beginning steps for conversion. It doesn’t mean that we automatically feel compassion, that we’re no longer feeling wronged, that we wouldn’t like to vindicate our own behavior and condemn other people’s behavior, but rather that we are to use our free will instead of acting on our feelings. Instead we choose to be like Jesus -- striving to become more and more like Him.

O Lord,
Your mercy is my hope,
my heart rejoices in Your saving power.
I will sing to You, Lord,
for Your goodness to me.(Psalm 12:6)

- Donna Nelson, ocds
(drn3rd at hotmail dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:11 AM