Here is my homily for this weekend. God bless you!
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; 1 Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6:27-38
February 19/20, 2022
Jesus seems to be really trying to drive home some challenging demands today. Notice He doesn’t suggest, He is saying straight out what we are to do and not do.
Perhaps it is helpful to focus on the three summary statements He makes, the three sentences that pull it all together for us.
Do to others what you would have done to you.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
There is something inside us that explains why we treat others in the ways we do. There is something within us that reflects how we treat each other.
If we struggle to show mercy to others, we usually first struggle to accept mercy in our lives.
If we struggle to forgive, we usually struggle to ask for and accept forgiveness for our sins.
If we struggle to be fair to others, we usually struggle to be fair to ourselves.
Look within for the answers! Don’t accuse and blame others and the world.
Look within! There you will find two things:
- The presence of God (if you are in a state of grace) or a horrible darkness (if you have sinned seriously).
- Places that need to be healed, forgiven, soothed with mercy, places to which God is reaching out.
Allow Jesus to heal you, to draw you close to Himself, to sustain you.
There is too much hurt out there and in here! Too many of us don’t appreciate just how much we have been wounded by life and others. All we have to do is look at our society, current events, and the impact all this technology are having on our hearts and our relationships with others. We minimize the impact. We pretend to be okay, and then wonder why we treat each other poorly, why we struggle to show mercy, why we hold grudges and feelings of anger and resentment.
There is too much of that out there and in here!
We must learn to pull back from always looking “out there” for the problems, and begin to look to God for the answers and ask Him to heal us.
Healed people heal others!
Wounded people wound others!
Jesus says give your cloak and your tunic if asked. We won’t do that if we have not been clothed in Christ.
Jesus says love those who hurt you. We will not do that if we have not let Jesus love us out of our sin.
Jesus says stop judging and condemning. We cannot do that if we don’t believe that we have a merciful judge in Christ.
Jesus says give abundantly. We cannot do that if we shut the door and not allow God’s grace to fill us.
Allow yourself forgiveness, mercy, and healing. Believe in the power of Jesus Christ and His grace. Come to the sources of forgiveness, mercy, and healing that Jesus gave us. I am referring to the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick. These are powerful sources of healing. These are the sacraments that forgive sin, extend mercy, and can heal us.
Use them and be healed! You will be able to extend to others what you have received, what you have been given and accepted. You will begin to do what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel.
Do to others what you would have done to you.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
