Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Today's gospel, we hear our Lord giving the, you've heard it said, but I say, discourse.
And the particular issue that's brought up in this context is the Old Testament law,
an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
It's the principle of retaliation, that justice demands that we retaliate
in order to equalize the balance of justice.
And to some extent, we have a right to that justice.
There's a right to recompense, to have it getting one's due
and delivering.
The punishment that fits the crime, but there is also something higher,
which our Lord shows us, not only in his words, but also in his actions.
Because he comes among men as one who is fit to judge, the only one who is fit to judge.
And yet he did not come to judge, but to bring mercy.
And yet he did not come to judge, but to bring mercy.
And yet he did not come to judge, but to bring mercy.
He did not come to be served, but to serve, and to die as a ransom for the many.
None of which he had to do.
In fact, because he's God, he's entitled to a very special kind of justice.
We can't ever pay him back for what he's done for us.
He deserves an infinite amount of glory, and there's nothing we can do to give him back.
He deserves an infinite amount of glory, and there's nothing we can do to give him back.
He deserves an infinite amount of glory, and there's nothing we can do to give him that glory.
And so we give him the best that we can in the coin of honor.
And because he's become one of us, he has made it possible for us to offer him to the Father
through the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
So he deserves everything, and yet he comes and he gives us everything.
In spite of the fact we've done nothing to deserve it.
So when it comes to our own personal behavior, there has to be a higher standard.
By which we judge things.
And if our whole perspective on life is securing my rights,
you know, always talking about my rights and about what I deserve
and what I haven't gotten and the way people have treated me,
then our Lord tells us that when we get before the judgment throne of God,
that that kind of standard will be applied to us.
This is why our Lord says, for example,
do not judge and you will not be judged.
So there is this standard of mercy,
the standard of, you know, the willingness to overlook other people's faults
and to not excuse our own.
To focus our attention on the honor and glory of God.
And to try to forget ourselves.
And in that context,
you know, to forgive.
And to be inclined to be generous.
To give and not expect a return.
To give more than our share.
To give more than perhaps sometimes we can even afford.
To forgive not seven times, but 70 times, seven times.
All of this is the standard by which Christ has served us.
The standard by which our Lord has died,
died upon the cross and brought about the forgiveness of our sins.
Unfortunately, sometimes passages within the gospel
are taken out of their context.
It's like anything else nowadays.
And we get only one part of the gospel.
You know, there's those who want to preach only the social aspect of the gospel.
The fact that Christ, you know, preached to the poor or that he does preach about forgiveness.
And about not, not judging.
There's those who only want to see the positive aspect of the gospel.
Or want to be only a resurrected people.
There's places in the country where people are told they're not supposed to kneel down for communion because they're a resurrected people.
We're resurrected now, which is to forget the cross.
Which is to forget that God is God and we're not.
So we can have, we always have to try to balance out what we see in the gospel.
In a particular reading with, with the whole of the gospel.
And not translate the standard of generosity and forgiveness into some kind of misplaced compassion.
And this is one thing that, that of course has found itself deeply rooted within the church and society.
And unfortunately, especially within the church where there is sometimes no consequences.
The standard of forgiveness and mercy has been,
has been,
has been truncated in, into this new religion where we don't hold anybody accountable for their actions.
Where everyone is going to go to heaven.
Where we just expect if we're nice and good and, and, and generous that everyone is going to be transformed.
And this is one of the reasons why, you know,
we've had things like this.
Things like the, the, the crisis within the church in our country.
Because there have been no consequences for, for people's actions.
So our Lord is not dispensing with justice.
He is not eliminating the, the need for, for just laws and for consequences for, for bad actions.
In fact, you know, in a Christian society where mercy reigns.
And where the spirit of charity exists.
Then, for example, penal codes and, and, and, and prisons and, and consequences for, for, for people's bad actions.
Are, are tempered with mercy and are a means to bring people not only to justice but to conversion.
Many saints who fell victim to the law.
Many saints who fulfilled the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Spent a great deal of time visiting those in prison.
And brought about many, many, many conversions of those who had run into the law and had suffered its consequences.
So in a Christian society, we can do both.
We can see to the protection of the innocent.
We can make sure that we are all held accountable.
We can make sure that we are all held to a high standard.
And, and are aware of the consequences of our actions.
And feel the consequences of our actions.
And at the same time, when it comes to our own personal lives.
We can choose the cross rather than our own obsession or emphasis or, or preoccupation with our own rights.
We can choose to be like Christ.
We can choose to suffer and to offer a sacrifice that's pleasing to the Lord.
Rather than to always be standing on our rights and on what we think we need and want.
Because in the end, we have this standard which is Christ himself.
Who came not to, to be served but to serve and to die as a ransom for the many.
This is a skeptic.
Thank you for your
piers.
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . Not if they will die, if they can wasn't, if they're alive, not after.