February 23 : Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Love your enemies

 

 

 
First Reading          :  Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Psalm                      : Psalm 119:33-40
Second Reading     : 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Gospel                    : Matthew 5:38-48

Jesus tells his disciples: “Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you”. And this is the liturgical theme for today: “love your enemies”. Humanly speaking this is not an easy thing to do but Jesus wants us to aim higher than the tax collectors. We are to imitate God’s perfection. When people hate their enemies and resent them, they end up hurting themselves far more than they hurt their enemies. The person we hate has the power to rob us of our peace of mind and capacity to love. Our hatred is not hurting them at all. It only turns our own days and nights into a hellish turmoil. There is a Chinese Proverb which goes like this: "He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself". It’s the same lesson we find in the Letter to the Romans: “Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good” (Rom 12:21).