Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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This is, perhaps, the oldest law in the world: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Before it was written in stone, it seems it was written into human hearts.
When someone strikes you, strike them back. When someone speaks ill of you, speak ill of them. If someone is angry with you, return the grudge. Get even.
It’s a cyclical flow of revenge; a guarantee of destroying relationships – and by extension, the world itself. As Ghandi once said, “If we all lived by that rule – an eye for an eye – then we’d all be blind.”
And yet, how many of us are, to some extent, blind? Guilty of following that ancient law of retaliation.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers a new, revolutionary teaching. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye,’ but I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”
Imagine allowing someone to strike you on one cheek… and then offering the other. Doing so would leave us feeling stunned; overpowered; defeated. Why would Jesus insist on such an impossible standard?
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Offering the other cheek is a type of olive branch; a path to peace; a refusal to allow someone else’s sin from becoming our own.
If someone strikes us in anger and we return the blow, then two people are now hurt and angry. The cyclical violence can only be broken, when one refuses to retaliate, choosing to allow the evil to stop with them.
Christ demonstrates this very truth on the cross, not only by receiving every blow, lash, ounce of spittle and nail, but also by praying to his Father, “Forgive them, they know not what they do.”
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This is not an easy Gospel passage to digest. Nor is it meant to be.
Perhaps the only way to live it practically is to reach that point in our spiritual journeys where we can say with Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me.”
Help us, Lord, to live more like you today.
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Image credits: (1) Catholic Answers (2) Pastor Lester Bentley (3) Blog, Southside Baptist Church
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Time is a curious thing.
It’s fast and slow. It seems to drag on when we’re young, but it accelerates as we age. We never seem to have enough of it, yet we sleep 1/3 of it away. And none of us knows just how much time we have left.
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The ancient Greeks had two different notions of time.
One was chronos, the tick-tock type of time we live our lives by. Imagine the secondhand ticking on a watch’s face. Or a child crossing the days off on a calendar, anxiously waiting for the school year to end and for summer to begin.
The other was called kairos, which meant an appointed time; a significant moment in history, when the conditions were right for either a breakthrough or success.
Kairos was first used to describe a decisive moment in battle, when the momentum had shifted in one particular direction. The military brass knew that victory was within reach if their troops persevered.
Today we might think of kairos in terms of a college acceptance letter; a job offer; a marriage proposal; a pregnancy; the moment of priestly ordination; or even a health scare or the death of a loved one.
Each of these events unfolds chronologically in a matter of seconds or minutes, but in the grander scheme of life, they are kairos moments; breakthroughs; opportunities; occasions that can change our lives forever.
When a kairos moment comes, it startles us. The best way to respond is to pray first, then act.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus reaches a kairos moment in his ministry. Gazing upon the tired, weary crowds, he recognizes that word of his deeds has spread, almost uncontrollably so; people are hungering for his power, his compassion, and his teachings.
Simultaneously, he recognizes the limits of his earthly body, and that the tide of opposition is rising against him; seeds for plotting his death have been planted in the hearts of the religious authorities.
The clock is ticking.
Now is the time for Jesus to expand the scope and scale of his mission. Summoning the Twelve Apostles, he says to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. So, ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Any farmer can tell you that when the harvest is ready, there’s a clear sense of urgency; it’s all hands on deck. You either reap what you’ve sown or lose your crop.
Gazing upon the weary crowds, Jesus feels the same sense of urgency. Thus, what started out as a decisive moment for him also draws in his disciples; his invitation for them to participate in his ministry will forever change their lives.
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How do you think the Apostles felt when Christ called upon them? Did fire burn in their veins? Did zeal for souls consume their hearts? Or were they afraid, far more comfortable observing Jesus than acting in his name?
Either way, they rose to the occasion. Each of the Apostles played a pivotal role in changing the course of human history. When this kairos moment came, they prayed, then acted.
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Think of some of the kairos moments that we experience within our own community of faith.
When I came to this parish six years ago.
When the Holy Spirit is given to a child in baptism.
When our young people publicly profess their faith at Confirmation.
When a couple walks down the aisle.
When, like the Prodigal Son, a person shows up in the confessional, seeking God’s forgiveness.
When an entire family returns to church after years of being away.
When we mourn the loss of a loved one, commending them to God.
When we gather around this altar every Sunday in search of God, much like the tired, weary crowds in today’s Gospel.
All of these are kairos moments, opportunities for God to break into our lives, filling us with his grace, as he sends us out on mission, building his kingdom gesture by gesture.
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What’s a kairos moment in your own life? Where do you see God acting? Or where do you need God to act?
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Time is a curious thing. It’s fast and slow. It seems to drag on when we’re young, but it accelerates as we age. We ask, we wait, we hope, we seek. Suddenly, life’s momentum shifts and we find ourselves on the verge of something new.
A kairos moment.
May the Lord give us the wisdom to see what must be done – and the courage to do it.
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Image credits: (1) Reddit (2) Old Clocks Info (3) That Angami Girl!
At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, often depicted as a heart surrounded by a crown of thorns and flames, has inspired Catholic devotion for centuries. Before diving into its meaning for us today, however, some historical context may be necessary.
Tradition states that the Lord appeared repeatedly to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a cloistered nun who lived in the 17th century.
At that time, the Church was still reeling from the devastating effects of the Protestant Reformation, as well as the fire of heresy rising from within its own ranks.
There was one religious movement, in particular, known as Jansenism, which spread like a virus throughout the Netherlands and Saint Margaret Mary’s beloved homeland of France.
Oddly, the Jansenists believed that some people were born predestined to damnation, because God had foreknowledge of their sins. Furthermore, they believed that only the morally perfect were worthy of receiving Communion.
As a result, very few Catholics who followed them received Eucharist. But, as Pope Francis reminded us a few years ago, “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak” (Evangelii Gaudium no. 47).
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It’s in this context that the Lord appeared to Saint Margaret Mary, emphasizing his infinite love and mercy for humanity, symbolized by his heart which remains pierced, longs for our devotion, and burns away our sins.
The Lord also invited her to join him in praying for the conversion of souls, the reparation of sins, and the conversion of every human heart.
Perhaps this is where we come in. Each of us in our own way can share the message of God’s infinite love for humanity, not only by speaking about the Sacred Heart, but also by quoting the promise of Christ in today’s Gospel, which God alone can make.
“Come to me, all of you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.”
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There’s no better way to share that message than to speak from our own experience. On this Feast, may the Lord lighten the burdens we carry, may he forgive us our sins, may he make our hearts ever more like his and grant us his peace.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
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Image credits: (1) Faith Magazine (2) Portrait of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Wikipedia (3) Word on Fire
