Matthew 5:43-48

1 Kings 21:17-29

Psalm 51:2-4, 5-6ab, 11 and 16

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:

“You have heard that it was said,

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you,

that you may be children of your heavenly Father,

for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,

and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?

Do not the tax collectors do the same?

And if you greet your brothers only,

what is unusual about that?

Do not the pagans do the same?

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek to be perfect and merciful as you are perfect and merciful. You are patient and do not give up on me. You seek me out like the lost sheep when I stray, bind my wounds with love, and bring me home to you. 

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Sixth Antithesis: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brings six Old Testament laws to their fulfillment by way of antitheses. He introduces an old law, “You have heard that it was said,” and then brings it to fulfillment when he teaches, “But I say to you.” In the Old Law, the Israelites were commanded by God to “love their neighbor” (Leviticus 19:18) and by Moses to drive out and destroy their enemies (Deuteronomy 7:1-11; 12:29-31; 20:10-18). Just as Jesus had to correct Moses’ concession that permitted divorce, he also had to correct Moses’ commands concerning warfare and hatred of others. Moses gave the laws concerning the utter destruction of the Canaanites to try to protect the Israelites from Canaanite influence and falling into idolatry. The command to pursue total (herem) warfare against the cities of the Canaanites in the land was not part of the original Sinai covenant but was a concession to Israel’s sinfulness and hard-heartedness (see Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, 309-310). 

2. Imitating our Father: When we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we are imitating our heavenly Father. The Father loves us and seeks us out even when we offend him through our sin. “Just as Israel was to imitate God in being ‘holy’ (Leviticus 19:2), so Jesus calls the Church to imitate God’s perfect compassion (Luke 6:36). The Father is kind and merciful to the good and evil alike, so his children must extend mercy even to their enemies” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 17).

3. Ahab’s Repentance: In the First Reading, when Elijah confronts King Ahab about his sinful actions, the king repents from what he did to Naboth and from his idolatry. The king tore his garments, put on sackcloth, fasted, and humbled himself before the Lord. God declares that Ahab’s line will come to an end, like those of Jeroboam and Baasha. But because of Ahab’s repentance, the destruction of his line will not come upon his house during his lifetime, but during the reigns of his sons, Ahaziah (853-852 B.C.) and Jehoram (852-841 B.C.). In fact, all seventy of Ahab’s male descendants will be exterminated under the command of Jehu, who was anointed as king of Israel by the prophet Elisha and headed a new and fifth line of Israelite kings (2 Kings 9:1-10:31). Today’s Responsorial Psalm proclaims how we are sinners and how God is merciful. We humbly ask God to wipe out our offenses, to wash away our guilt, and to cleanse us from our sins.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you teach me that the heart of your Father’s Law is love. You ask that my faith in you flourish and be completed in acts of love. On the Cross, you prayed for your enemies and asked that they be forgiven. Help me to recall your example when I struggle to pray and forgive.

Living the Word of God: Have I ever prayed for my enemies? Why do I consider someone an enemy? What do I truly want for my enemies and those who persecute me? Do I ask for their conversion from sin or do I want to see them vanquished?