Deacon Tom Anthony

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 79

Reading 1 Lv 19:1-2, 17-18

The LORD said to Moses,
"Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

"You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13

R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.

Reading 2 1 Cor 3:16-23

Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.

So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.

Alleluia 1 Jn 2:5

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 5:38-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

As Christians, hatred does not belong in our hearts. We are encouraged to remove all those negative thoughts and distorted emotions that easily creep in daily as we live our lives. This is in stark contrast to what we see every day in society. It is common for people to lash out, yell, complain, and accuse. Jesus Christ wants to show us a different way. These strong feelings serve as a dividing force between us and a life of joy. They originate from Satan, building up obstacles between us and a truly Christian Life. Every time we act on these emotions, our relationship with Jesus Christ suffers. It was anger and hatred that brought Jesus to the cross and caused so many of those who should have been with Him to rise up against Him. When we welcome these things, we are actually rejecting Jesus Christ. It is impossible to love if there is a presence of hate and anger.

God himself told us to, “Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” He further stated that there should be no hatred in our hearts for our brothers and sisters. He did not provide for any exception to this command. As God’s children, we are required to obey His instructions. This can be difficult at times but not impossible. As children, we will always make mistakes and none of us are perfect. Yet, we must constantly correct ourselves and keep the thoughts of holiness centered in our consciousness. Where there is holiness, there is love. Where there is love, there is no anger or hatred. Where there is love, there is God.

It is very interesting how one becomes angry and gains the ability to hate. If we think about it for a moment, I feel that we can all come to the same conclusion that we have to actually spend a great deal of time and energy to arrive at that point. Through the process, the presence of Jesus is actually ignored and love is forced out of our hearts. It has been demonstrated that a life with Jesus Christ is so much better than a life without Him. If that is the case, then why would anyone want to push Him away? Yet that is what we do when we become angry and hate. Holiness is the better alternative and, to experience it, means that there cannot be any anger or hatred.

The question then arises: “How as Christians can we avoid the pitfalls of anger and hatred? There is a process here that much be continuously exercised. When the temptation to act in such an adverse way arises, the name of Jesus must be invoked. At the same time, the focus of the anger and hatred should be looked upon as someone who is sick and in need of prayers. This is where Jesus’ command to us about loving our enemies is manifested. Those who are against us and who are bringing about such a powerful, unfavorable response within us are diseased and are in need of healing. That healing comes through Jesus Christ. We are the light of Christ and now have an opportunity to show another person salvation. We should not want to be the sick ones but should want to heal those who are.

Paul offers to us a beautiful image of us being temples of God. We are Living Tabernacles with Jesus Christ dwelling within us. We are unified with Christ and He is constantly at work inside of us. How are we going to react to His presence? We need to acknowledge Him and embrace Him. Nothing is impossible when we do this. It is when we turn away from His presence when we will find ourselves in a terrible place. Paul proclaims boldly that that choice will lead to our utter destruction. This serves as a warning to us. Anything that we do against Jesus Christ will ultimately lead to our ruin. It is important for us to correct ourselves constantly and build on the foundation of our faith so as to be transformed by Christ continuously. We need to surrender to Jesus and let him do the work He so earnestly wants to do within us.

All of us, regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in, can serve as an example for others to follow as long as we keep following Christ. Anything that is negative or brings about a negative response should be removed from our life. Nothing is negative with Christ. This includes relationships, thoughts, and feelings. They must be transformed into love. This is what being holy is all about. God is holy. God is love. For us to become holy means to become all about love. With love there is no room for anger, animosity, or hatred.

Deacon Tom