Luke 6:27-38

1 Corinthians 8:1b-7, 11-13

Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 23-24

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:

“To you who hear I say, 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,

and from the person who takes your cloak,

do not withhold even your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of you,

and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

For if you love those who love you,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners,

and get back the same amount. 

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,

and lend expecting nothing back;

then your reward will be great

and you will be children of the Most High,

for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,

will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure

will in return be measured out to you.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you love those who reject you and your Son. You do not give up but seek their conversion. You are always ready to welcome your wayward child. Teach me your ways of mercy.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Love Your Enemies: In his Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples not just to love their neighbors, but also to love their enemies. This love is made concrete through good works, blessings, and prayer. It is a love that brings justice to the perfection of mercy. Violence is not repaid by violence, stealing is not repaid by stealing, and lending money is not done only to receive back with interest. Benedict XVI spoke about the relation between justice and love in his Encyclical Charity in Truth. Charity, he writes, goes beyond justice, “because to love is to give, to offer what is ‘mine’ to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is ‘his’... I cannot ‘give’ what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice” (Benedict XVI, Caritas in veritate, 6). On the one hand, justice leads to charity; on the other, charity demands justice, transcends it, and completes it in the logic of giving and forgiving.

2. Imitating the Father: Through our incorporation into Christ’s Body, we become children of the Most High. We are to imitate our heavenly Father who is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. He has a generous heart that overflows with love and mercy. One way we learn mercy is by leaving judgment to God. We can judge external actions, but the intentions of the heart are known to God. God sees the heart and judges and forgives accordingly.

3. The Way of Charity: Paul also teaches the way of charity to the Church in Corinth. He puts us on guard against seeking human knowledge for ourselves. This is because human knowledge easily leads to pride, while divine knowledge leads to humility. Likewise, hatred tears down, but love builds up. In his letter, Paul addresses a problem in the early Christian community. The Council of Jerusalem asked Gentile Christians to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:29). In itself the meat has nothing wrong with it, but eating it can cause scandal to our brothers and sisters and even be an occasion of sin for them. Paul chooses the better part: not eating meat sacrificed to idols so as not to offend his brother. In this way, Paul chose the way of sacrificial love. 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to be just, charitable, holy, and merciful like you and your Father. Teach me the way of justice so that I give to others what is theirs. Teach me the way of charity so that I give to others generously. Teach me the way of holiness so that I do all with a right intention. Teach me the way of mercy so that I forgive those who have offended me.

Living the Word of God: Today, Jesus tells us: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Do we want to be treated fairly and justly? Do we want to be treated with mercy when we fail? Do we want to be forgiven? Then we ourselves need to treat others with justice, love, and mercy.