Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 8:1b-7.11-13; Luke 6: 27-38)
We may want to pass over Jesus’ commands under the rubric, “Love
your enemies”, or to dismiss them as exaggerations. When someone takes my coat, I want the person
to return it. I am not likely to offer him
or her my shirt as well. Also, when someone
my borrows money, I expect it back. I am
not inclined to loam him or her more until the first debt is repaid. Am I violating Jesus’ commands?
Perhaps not. The key
to the passage is the so-called “Golden Rule.” Followers of Christ are to do to
others as they would have them do to themselves. Nurtured in Christ’s love, we hope to receive
and should be ready to bestow kindnesses.
It may be kindness to give my coat to a poor man, but if a bully demands
it, kindness would be limited to telling the person, “No,” gently but
firmly. If an alcoholic keeps asking me money
for drinks, telling the person gently not to drink would be the kind thing to
do. Supporting the habit would be cooperating in vice.
Jesus’ command to love one’s enemies is one of his most
distinctive teachings and cannot be dismissed.
However, it does not mean that we are to be abusive, either of ourselves
or of others. Love obliges us to help
those in need. The help we render,
however, should be in proportion to others’ needs and to our ability to give.
