Thursday of the Twenty-third
Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 8:1b-7.11-13; Luke 6: 27-38)
Both St. Paul in the epistle and Jesus in the gospel
today speak of love. Neither makes the
claim that it is easy, much less delightful.
Paul would have his readers sacrifice what they have a right to for the
sake of a skittish soul. He suggests
that they fast from meat if one in their numbers is an animal lover. Jesus typically goes a mile farther. His followers are to allow others to take from
them without making compensation!
Something should be said about the precise meaning of
these passages. The Church has people
who are scandalized over small things like buying milk on Sunday. Following Jesus literally, one might conclude
that she should leave her house unlocked.
But there can be no doubt that love tries the soul. As Dorothy Day both pointed out and lived: “…(L)ove in action is a harsh and dreadful thing
compared with love in dreams.”
It would be a worthy exercise for us to list the people whom
we know. Then next to each name we
should write what sacrifices we made for that person. If the sacrifices are costly, we can say that
we are fulfilling today’s gospel mandate.
