Mt. 5:38-48
On the first anniversary of 9-11, it landed on a Thursday and everybody came to Mass, it was a packed church that night. We get the reading of today – the exact same reading…love your enemy, do good to those who hate you. And after mass a lady said to me, “For a whole year I’ve hated the terrorists who attacked us on 9-11. Today for the first time I was able to forgive them.” She was able to write a new story and go on with her life.
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which was the watchword of the Mosaic Law, However, this was not God’s original plan. In today’s first reading taken from the book of Leviticus, we read God’s will for humanity: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbour lest you incur sin because of him.” “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself; I am the Lord.” (Lev.19:17-18). In the course of time, we see humanity distance themselves from this original plan of God and start to follow the principles of just retaliation instead of extending forgiveness.
In today’s gospel, we see Jesus trying to restore the initial plan of God for humanity and help us live in love. The path that Jesus suggests is one of unconditional forgiveness. “If someone slaps on the right cheek, show the other.” In fact, when slapping someone on the right cheek, one has to slap with the other side of the hand. That demands double punishment. Yet Jesus exhorts us to practise spontaneous forgiveness. Normally, Jewish brethren use a rob and an outer tunic as part of their traditional dressing style. If someone owes a sum of money to someone and is unable to pay it back, the owner could demand the rob, but not the jacket, because it is everyone’s basic right to protect themselves from the cold weather. However, Jesus teaches them to give away even the outer tunic to the one who demands the rob. The Roman soldiers had the privilege of demanding from the Jewish citizens that they carry their provisions and equipment for a distance of one mile. They were not allowed to force anyone to carry it more than one mile. If so, they would be punished. Even in this circumstance, Jesus tells them to walk an extra mile with them.
Jesus brings a total transformation to their traditional understanding of loving one’s neighbour. He teaches them to love their enemies and even to pray for them. So far in the history of humanity, no wise men or religious leaders have imparted such a teaching that overthrows the traditional right of retaliation against one’s enemies. Jesus challenges us by asking: “If we love those who love us, what is the speciality of our love?” Even sinners do the same. If we wish only those wishes upon us, we too become mere products of conditional love culture. Jesus challenges us to grow into the mindset of unconditional love and imitate our Abba Father. The ultimate aim of our discipleship journey is to grow into the perfection of our heavenly Father, who loves everyone unconditionally.
As we reflect on this passage today, let us acknowledge our limitations and our need to remain conditioned to our natural drives, such as our tendency to retaliate, and to remain individuals of conditional love. We should not forget that we are created in the image and likeness of God, which implies the divine spark in us. This is the mark of our divine identity. As we continue our pilgrim journey, we need to recognise and realise this divine identity by imitating our Abba Father and making a sincere attempt to grow in His perfection day by day by growing as beings in love.