Homilletes for weekday masses from February 8 can be found below.
Monday of the Second Week in Lent
(Luke 6:36-38)
Ten years ago Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in Montana. Mr. Shepard’s killers assaulted him because he was a homosexual and evidently flirted with one of them. After the guilty verdict Shepard’s parents agreed with the state not to seek the death penalty. His father told one of the killers, “I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney, but now is the time to heal.” Although this may sound like half-hearted mercy, it probably took courage to utter.
In the gospel today Jesus calls us to be merciful. It has been pointed out that where in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus calls his disciples to be perfect, Luke shows him emphasizing mercy as if mercy is the perfection of God. When we are called upon to forgive a really serious offense, it certainly seems like a monumental task. As a poet (Alexander Pope) once put it, “To err is human; to forgive divine.
What’s critical is that we don’t dwell too long on how we feel in such situations. Feelings make good barometers of the likes and dislikes of our hearts, but they do not serve well as compasses to where we should be going. Naturally we are upset when someone hurts us deeply. Rather than lash out in anger, however, we should imitate Matthew Shepard’s father and not let our dislike rule our minds. No, as Jesus’ disciples, we must be ready to forgive those who offend us.
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