OMELIE / Omelie EN

23 feb 2020

23/02/2020 – 7th Sunday in O. T. - Year A 

23/02/2020 – 7^th Sunday in O. T. - Year A 

Reading 1 LV 19,1-2.17-18 * Psalm 102 * Reading 2 1COR 3,16-23 * Gospel MT 5,38-48

God entrusts Moses with the task to tell the people words nobody would have ever expected. God has given His commandments not because of some whim or out of fixation with being obeyed and therefore to have authority on Abraham’s people, but in order to show Himself through it to all the other peoples on earth as a loving Father. Who obeys God becomes like Him, becomes therefore able to love and to spread love as He would spread it. This is why the commandment that summarises all the commandments is actually: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy”. And then He explains how this holiness is going to happen: we will not leave space in our heart neither for hatred nor for vengeance and not even for bitterness, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Love for the neighbor, even for the neighbour full of hate, is the way to show holiness, the holiness of the God that is guiding us.

Jesus develops this teaching, drafted in the Book of Leviticus, and He gives an example of it three times. He gives the example of he who is slapped, he who is robbed and he who is exploited. There might always be someone who hits you, who is unfair towards you even thanks to the law, who wants from you job done for free. These actions usually generate strong reactions. What is happening instead in the disciples' heart? They want to be a sign of God’s love, therefore a carrier for His holiness, and therefore he does not let his heart being turned, he does not let himself to be influenced by this evil. The devil would like you to become as evil as him, but the Lord wants you to use these situations in order to show His holiness. These are precious occasions you can use to give testimony of God’s kindness. So whoever sees you, they see part of the wisdom and the selflessness of the Father’s love.

 Jesus gives also other pieces of advice: “Pray for those who persecute you”. The heart of a son loves as the Father does. The Father loves good and evil ones, He loves them in order to attract to Himself their heart and transform them. In this way to us too is granted, nay, is asked of, to love without first of all being sure to be considered and loved. We have to love not in order to answer love, but because we are children of God!

Saint Paul's recommendation is completely in line with these teachings: we are God’s temple and His Spirit dwells in us. Every action of ours needs to be in line with this reality and show it. We cannot reason as the world does, that says you need to be clever in order not to be overshadowed. Our cleverness is not about becoming great in the world, becoming wolves with the wolves or lions, but being like lambs, living meekness and kindness in every situation, even if the lambs are surrounded by wolves. We cannot sit on two chairs at the same time: either we keep with the world and we are in contest with it, or we are doing our job to show God and the beauty of His love to the point we have to suffer the cross by the hand of men.

Let us repeat today’s prayer, that summarises in very few words our desire to be really for and in the world: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, always pondering spiritual things, we may carry out in both word and deed that which is pleasing to you.