Sleeha 4th S.June 13,10

Sleeha 4th S,June 13,10

(Lk.6:27-42)

General Douglas Mac Arthur addressing the cadets of the West Point, in his booming voice, spoke to them about duty, honor and country and told them that those words described what they ought to be, could be and would be in life. He added that these would be their rallying points, helping them to have courage when courage would fail , to have faith when there would be no reason for faith, and to keep their hope alive when there would be nothing to hope for. Those words, in the eyes of Mac Arthur, are words of the hope and life of every American soldier. If we can just turn around and ask ourselves what the rallying words of our lives would be as Christians and what words Jesus would offer us to keep our lives alive, we would find them in today’s Gospel.

In the reading from the Gospel, we find Jesus addressing his listeners, asking them to love their enemies, to do good to those who would hate them, to bless those who would maltreat them and not to judge people.

Many of the contemporaries of Jesus were waiting for a political liberator who would free them the Roman occupation through force. They expected a political liberation from Jesus. But the liberation that Jesus offered them was not by force but through love. It was a new world view for them. Jesus wanted the liberation to start from one’s own personal life. The change should happen in one’s heart. It is through love, forgiveness and mercy that one would have to bring about changes in lives as well as in the world.

The words from today’s Gospel thus set before us a way of life that is deeply desired by Jesus. The natural bent of our lives to hate those who hate us and to bless those who bless us. We want to retain our grievances against those hold grudges against us. But Jesus wants us to go against the grain of our lives and make a turn around. It is this call of Jesus that changed the lives of Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa.

Today Jesus wants us to make a deep change in the way we react to situations around us. Our words and actions should come from love and we should focus on forgiveness and mercy.

Jesus thus offers us two guidelines for spiritual transformation in our lives:

1. Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. If we want to be respected and loved, we have to give respect and love first.

2. Confront our faults first. Before we go correcting others, we have to correct ourselves first. The more we forgive others, the more will be forgiven us.

Abp. Sheen points out very beautifully in this context by saying that our spiritual maturity consists in loving the other with the same love that we have for ourselves: “ We learn to walk by waling, to play by playing and to love by loving…Doing kind acts to people makes us find all people lovable. And if love is not there, we put it there and then every one becomes lovable.”

When we live by the words of Jesus, we no longer become bothered by the ill-will of others. The peace and joy in our heart depend on our willingness to follow Jesus in our lives. He alone is the anchor of our lives and he alone can give us the happiness that we want utmost in our lives.