Gospel: February 23, 2025
February 23, 2025 (Sunday)
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 3 / (Green)
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
The Lord is kind and merciful.
1st Reading: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
But I say to you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you badly. To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt. Give to the one who asks, and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have others do to you. If you love only those who love you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do favors to those who are good to you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners do the same. If you lend only when you expect to receive, what kind of grace is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to receive something in return. But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For he is kind toward the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”
Lectio Divina:
“The way of generous love.”
Read: David refuses to retaliate against King Saul, even though he is seeking to kill him. Christ gives the command to “love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.”
Reflect: In The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, there is a discussion between a lady and an old monk. The lady has great ideas about looking after the sick and the poor, but she realizes that, deep down, she needs to receive payment in some way for her acts of kindness. She needs to be thanked or recognized for her charity, and so she comes to understand that her charity lacks true generosity and resilience. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us the way of generous love, a way which breaks the cycle of revenge, and the cycle of meanness, by going beyond what is simply fair or what is expected. Such a generous, patient love is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength, as it takes self-control to look beyond ourselves to others’ need, to look beyond injustices and beyond the hatred or contempt of others to seek their good.
Pray: Pray for a generous heart, one which willingly responds to the needs of others.
Act: Look for opportunities to act with generosity, patience and love, especially to those you find difficult, unkind or unappealing.
