Lectio divina

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle A | Mt. 5:38-28

Jesus' Teaching about Retaliation

and Love of Enemies

A. INVOCATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We invoke the Holy Spirit through the Prayer of St. Augustine

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.Act in me O Holy

Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I love but

what is holy.Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.Guard me, then, O

Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

B. LECTIO
Read the following Scripture with sincerity, with a heart that's open, and with a
mind that's clear, allowing yourself to be touched and be filled with grace.

Matthew 5:38-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a

tooth

for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone

strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law

with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into

service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn

your back on one who wants to borrow.

“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.”
C. MEDITATIO
Few questions in human experience are as existential as these:  Who is my friend?

Who is my enemy? War and strife go back farther than written history; in fact, most of

our earliest written history deals with war and conquest, and the annihilation of entire

cultures. Even our earliest Scriptures deal with these questions. The serpent in the

Garden posed as a friend to Adam and Eve, and betrayed then into betraying God.

Cain slew Abel out of jealousy for his brother’s relationship with the Lord. Lot found

out the hard way that his friends could rapidly become his enemies, and found himself

rescued only by the grace of God.

A few generations later, Joseph also found out that distinguishing between friends and

enemies could be difficult. In a way, his brothers repeated the example of Cain and

Abel by selling Joseph into slavery out of spite and jealousy. Joseph, however, rose to

a position of power in Egypt and earned the trust of the pharaoh. After a famine struck

the land, Joseph could have used that power to destroy his brothers and their families,

since they had clearly treated him as their enemy and wanted him dead, even if not

directly by their own hands. Instead, Joseph used his power to assist them and bring

them to where they would not starve, and where the nation of Abraham could continue

to grow. Rather than return harm for harm, Joseph understood that the entire arc had

been the will of God, and tearfully reunited with his family (Genesis 45 – 50).Who

were Joseph’s enemies? He was mistreated by both his own family and then the

Egyptians for a time, so in one sense it’s difficult to name Joseph’s friends. Rather

than respond in kind, Joseph acted in the best interests of all, trusting in the Lord that

His will would unfold and bless Joseph. By the time of Joseph’s death, it would appear

that Joseph had no enemies at all — only neighbors and friends.Four hundred years

later, that situation had changed dramatically. The Egyptians had yoked the Israelites

in cruel bondage, having long ago forgotten Joseph’s kindness. The Lord led the

Israelites out of Egypt not by having them rebel, but by delivering them through a

series of plagues visited on the Egyptians by the Lord. Having drawn them out, the

Lord then gives the law to Moses.

Note here the distinction between “hatred” and “reprove.” The call to love our

neighbors as ourselves does not mean that we cannot judge their actions and offer

criticism and correction. (Indeed, Leviticus is filled with instructions on why, how,

and when to do just that.) But the Lord makes clear that these should not fill our hearts

with hatred for our brothers and sisters, which then becomes sin in ourselves and

worthy of rebuke itself. “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your

people,” the Lord demands, but love all as we love ourselves.

This, however, raises another question: just who are our neighbors? Before Christ, the

answer seemed to be those within the Israelite community. However, the original

mission of the Israelites was not just to be a community or nation for its own purposes,

but to become a nation of priests that would spread the word of God to all nations. All

nations would come to Jerusalem, the Lord declared and the prophets repeated, and

Jerusalem should stand firm with the Lord in order to convert all. In that

sense, everyone would have been the neighbor of the Israelites.

This is the calling which Jesus reminds His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. It

is not enough to love one’s neighbors when they love you. That, as Jesus said, is

hardly a calling — it’s a basic human instinct. Even the tax collectors of that time

loved the other tax collectors, if for no other reason than a sense of survival. True

love of neighbor — caritas or agape, the self-sacrificing love that Christ would soon

demonstrate on the cross as the sacrifice for all mankind — means loving  all  as

neighbors.

Jesus foreshadows the Great Commission of the final chapters of Matthew in this

passage. He will reverse the direction of the mission of the Israelites

by sending them to all nations, armed with the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. The story

of Joseph provides its own foreshadowing of the Great Commission, a journey to a

foreign land that results in the salvation of God’s people. The new mission of

salvation will not just save God’s people, but will make all nations God’s people.

It is no easy task to refuse to cherish grudges and to keep hate from entering our

hearts. If it was, we would not have needed Christ as a sacrifice for our sins. This

hard teaching from the Sermon on the Mount tells us to be very careful about

drawing those distinctions and naming people as enemies, especially amongst

ourselves, because we do not see the long arc of God’s will.

Rather than judge his family as enemies, and his slave masters as enemies, Joseph

trusted in the Lord and dealt with all in holiness. Jesus calls us to do the same — to

recognize the limits of our own wisdom, and to put our trust in Him instead so that

we may see all humanity as brothers and sisters of the one God. That, Jesus tells us,

is the holiness and perfection to which we must all strive, through His grace and

forgiveness.

D. ORATIO
Bring to the Lord the praise, petition, or thanksgiving that the Word inspires in you.

a. “43 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[b]  and hate your

enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute

you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun

to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the

unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?“

(Mt. 5:43-46)

- Have you tried loving and greeting those who don’t love and greet us?

- Have you of prayed for your enemies?

b. “39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  40  And if anyone wants to sue you

and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go

one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not

turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.“ (Mt. 5:39-42)
 Pray with the Prhrase: "Help me to love my enemies and to pray for those

c. who persecuted me, that I may be a child of the Father in heaven.

E. CONTEMPLATIO

You need not to follow all the given contemplation below, but you can choose what

best fits your personal experience.

a. Contemplate on what God is trying to tell you with the passage that you have

read. Embrace His presence as you ask God to guide you and help you to pray for

those who persecute you and to forgive those who have sinned you.

b. Contemplate those elements that are in your heart impeding the action of God.

Ask God for wisdom, grace, and strength. Contemplate how Christ Jesus purifies

and frees your heart of these elements. Be thankful and praise Him.

F. COMMUNICATIO
- What conversion of mind, heart, and life is the Lord asking of me?

"When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well."

- How do I respond when someone has hurt me? How can I be more forgiving?

"Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to

borrow."

- Am I generous with my time and resources? How do I affirm the dignity of

those who are vulnerable?

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

- Who are my enemies? How do I treat them?

G. FINAL PRAYER
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion.

Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.

Not according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according

to our crimes.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those

who fear him.

(From Psalm 103)

Potot, Jeanne Marie P.

BSA - 1
2019010599