Sunday, February 20th 2022 | By Rev. Michael P. Hanifin
On this Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, today’s Gospel is taken from the sixth chapter of the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, where Jesus offered a very challenging, seemingly impossible approach to daily life. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak do not withhold even your tunic.” It makes one want to say, “Seriously, Lord?” And He doesn’t stop there. Jesus added, “Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.”
Our reaction might be that this seems so unfair! That is, unless we look at this way of life from a Christian disciple point of view. Then, not only does it seem doable (though challenging), but it also actually makes perfect sense. Christians understand clearly that all we have and all that we are — our very lives — are gifts from God given to us out of an unfathomable abundance of love. This changes everything! This means “my” cloak, “my” tunic, “my” money, and “my” time — all of it ultimately belongs to God. He has entrusted these things to each of us in love to use for His purposes and His glory.
Does this mean we are to be passive “doormats” to anyone who wants to take advantage of us? Certainly not. Jesus explained this in the next verse of this passage when He says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” There is nothing wrong with loving oneself since God loves us and has made us in His own image and likeness. Jesus is simply inviting us to approach others, and the sharing of our gifts, with this same attitude. He is giving us a definition here of real love, as disciple of Jesus Christ’s type of love!