Feb. 23, 2020 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Lv 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48)
The first reading says, “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” An Israelite would interpret this to mean that although he was to love his neighbor, it was permissible to hate his enemy. The Israelites were told to love foreigners, but only when they became resident aliens in the land of Israel. Those beyond the land were considered to be beyond the reach of the Law.
In the Gospel, Jesus says “You have heard it was said…” and then extends, tightens, or strengthens that law by phrasing it in a new commandment. Jesus’s teaching urges us to perform extra acts of love, service and kindness toward those who frustrate us or hurt us—those “enemies” in our lives who we would rather avoid. This is one of Jesus’s hardest teachings. During this week, reread the Gospel and take some time to pray about how this can apply to you and your family. If there is someone you consider an “enemy,” bring that relationship before the Lord and ask to be shown how to demonstrate the love of Christ to that person. If we are to reshape those lost to the hardness of sin, we cannot do it with truth alone – we also need love.
According to Roman military law, soldiers had permission to force civilians to carry equipment or even personal items for one Roman mile (4854 feet). This sheds light on Jesus’s teaching about going for two miles. To a Jew, this teaching would be shocking. It meant that if a Jew was coerced into that service by a Roman soldier, he or she should perform an act of generosity and service for him and go twice as far as required.