Commentary
Sunday, 2/24/2019, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Say No to Revenge and Capital Punishment
First Reading Commentary: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
When someone spreads rumors about us which causes others to look at us in an unfavorable way or when someone attacks us in a physical way, we usually seek revenge. If someone kills another, society usually wants that person executed as a form of just punishment for the victim’s loss of life. This is not abnormal and in our social way of thinking and for many, it is the right thing to do. But not in God’s eyes. That is the subject of today’s liturgy.
If you consider the whole story leading up to the events in today’s first reading, you know that Saul had wanted to kill David for some time. It is also important to remember that Saul had been anointed king because the people had demanded that they have king. Refer to 1 Samuel 9-10. Knowing that Saul wanted to kill David, you may ask, why did David not take advantage of the opportunity that he had to kill Saul and his soldiers and, how could David respect Saul’s anointing?
True, Saul was the LORD’s choice to be anointed king in answer to the people’s demand. David, therefore, considered Saul to be anointed by the LORD. But let’s look at the word: anointed. In the broader sense of today’s liturgy, being anointed meant more than the physical act of being anointed. By virtue of the fact that we are all made in God’s image, we have all been anointed. We are anointed as a member of the human race and a child of God whether we realize it or recognize or not. Did David consider this at the time? We don't know but we must remember that each of us has been anointed into life by God our Creator.
To defend oneself is one thing but to take advantage of a situation like the one before David where he stood in the midst of his enemies while they were sleeping would have been wrong. Even though David knew that if the situation were reversed, he himself would have been killed, killing Saul was wrong.
Had David killed Saul, it would have been in retaliation to the threats that Saul had made against David. Killing Saul would have been a vengeful act against Saul’s wanting to kill David. One could argue that killing Saul would have been an act of capital punishment. But David knew better and refused to take advantage of the situation. For that reason, God put Saul and his soldiers into a deep slumber while David and Abishai, who was with David, got away without anyone knowing that they were there.
There are three things that I want to consider here. 1- The LORD was with David and protected him just as He is ever present with us and wanting to protect us. 2- David’s action demonstrated respect for life and God’s Will. David’s reward was the LORD’s protection. 3- There is a direct connection here to Christ who was threatened by those who wanted to kill Him. Remember the events of Jesus reading from the scroll in Nazareth and declaring His divinity? The people wanted to kill Him but He passed through the midst of them. Luke 4:29-30
What happens to David and his reactions to it all is testimony in favor of Pro Life. It teaches us that capital punishment is nothing more than legalized murder. It may be justified in the laws that we set here on earth but our laws are not God’s laws. In the end, we will answer to God for the laws that we set and execute which are counter to God’s laws. The Good News is that we will be rewarded for the laws that we set and carry out which are consistent with God’s laws.
Take another look at David’s actions. David had mercy on Saul and his soldiers for their evil intensions against him. David also made his mercy a public act; not to brag, but to give witness. He said, “The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness.”
What David said in this one sentence gave witness and testimony to God’s mercy toward us. It is also giving the message that we are rewarded for not condemning others and for being faithful to God.
The word “and” is very important here. It is not enough to simply not pass judgement on others. We must refuse to judge and condemn because of our faith in God! It must be because of our faith in God that we love Him and it must be because we love God that we obey Him. That is why we must say, “No” to revenge and capital punishment.
We Are in His Image
Second Reading Commentary: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Paul’s language in this reading is difficult. I had to read it more than once to make since of it and still, I wrestled with it until I focused on the last sentence, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.”
Paul really does not say anything here that we Christians should not already know and believe. It is the way that he says it that will make us ignore it as gibberish if we don’t want to hear it or if we are non-believers. On the other hand, it will make us stop to think about the message if we are believers.
In any case, it is the last sentence that makes Paul’s message very clear. In the physical, we are in the image of Adam because in the physical, we are all descendants of Adam. That’s easy enough to understand and believe. Even the most non-religious can accept that fact.
Spiritually however, we are all in the image of Christ because we are all in the image of God and Christ is God the Son. For Non-Christians and Non-Believers, that is where things get messy. It takes faith to believe in and accept the mystery that Paul is writing about and live our lives in a way which is consistent to the image in which we are created.
Don’t get hung up on which image came first. The important message here is: if we are faithful to God and live according to His Will and His Law, we must also be faithful to Christ and live according to His Will and His Law. This is because the Will and the Law of God are the Will and the Law of Christ and that is because they are One God!
We Better Be Good to Each Other
Gospel Commentary: Luke 6:27-38
The long and short of today’s Gospel is that we must love everyone, even our enemies and out of that love must come a respect for life that causes us to be good to each other.
In the very beginning, Jesus said, “To you who hear…” In other words, “To those who believe and are paying attention.” There are so many different conversations that could be had regarding the subject of believing and paying attention to the Lord that one could write a book. But for the sake of this commentary, I will make only one point.
Anyone who does not believe in Jesus is not likely to pay attention to Him and Jesus begins this Gospel by sending the message that He is not wasting His time with them. But Jesus is also making it known that they need to hear His message and Jesus is inviting them to listen and believe.
Jesus was speaking to His disciples so why did He have to begin His message this way? I believe that the reason is because what Jesus said next if difficult to accept—even for those who believe and try their best to live according to God’s Will. “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…”
There is more and we have all heard it many times before. That is, those of us who go to church or have had any religious education or training. We can sit in church, listen to this Gospel and listen to the homily or sermon that follows but as soon as we get out of church, we go back to the laws of the street.
On the street, there is no such thing as loving your enemies. Its all about destroying your enemies before they destroy you. On the street, there is no such thing as doing good to those who hate you. One may not be malicious toward someone who hates them but they are not about to do them any favors either. At best, one will make every effort to stay away from their haters.
On the street there is no such thing as blessing those who curse us. Oh no, no, no. We lay that other person out telling them where to go, how to get there and how long to stay using language that cannot be written in this commentary. On the street, the person that mistreats us is going to get laid out too. Oh, we might pray and pray from the heart with the very best of intentions. Just not for those who have mistreated us.
That brings us to turning the other cheek if someone strikes us. Try going out on the street and preaching this Gospel. There is a real good chance that someone will strike you. And, if someone does strike you and you turn the other cheek, they will look at you as being a spineless push over.
Yes, Jesus had to say, “To you who hear” at the beginning of this Gospel. It is very hard to live in this world and follow what Jesus teaches us and commands us to do in this Gospel. We have to believe with absolute faith totally resolved in listening to everything that God tells us through Jesus—God the Son.
In this Gospel, Jesus does not give us the Greatest Commandments, He does not tell us to follow them, He does not even mention them directly. But everything that Jesus does tell us in this Gospel is telling us what we must do if we are to follow the Greatest Commandments.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Sounds simple enough. But try to live a life in total obedience to that law following the directions given to us in this Gospel. Try living a life without ever judging others for their actions especially when those actions are against us.
I must confess that there have been times when because of my anger, I thought of ways to get back at someone for hurting me. I must confess that there have been times when I fully intended to carry out those plans and there were times when I did.
You do not have to make a public confession like I just did but can you examine your conscience in total privacy and admit to times that you have failed to follow Jesus in this Gospel? I hope and pray that you can. The very last sentence in this Gospel makes the reason why we should come clean and make peace with God. Jesus said, “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” In other words, the way that we treat others is the way that God will treat us.
