A Cheek or An Eye. What Shall It Be?. . . 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
-
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 19th, 2023 (Click Here for Readings)
With what shall we respond to our offender? Return an eye for an eye and everyone starts to go blind. Repeatedly return the same offenses to our offenders and we soon become a non-productive community.
If all we do is hit the ball back each time it’s hit at us, we play an endless game of “top you” tennis. The verbal or non-physical eye for an eye can be a social put-down or “one upper” in front of others. Stealing the spotlight from others, eclipsing their presence or touting one’s worldly wisdom over another are typical virtual eye for an eye social games.
We can either spread or prevent these social offenses by either returning or absorbing the ball. When we return someone’s cheap shot with a backhand slam to give ourselves an emotional joy ride, nobody wins. It’s the world’s game, not God’s.
By letting someone “win” in their mind by absorbing their “shot,” their win becomes our win in God’s eyes. And by taking it on the cheek more often, we may well make a friend and end up both winning.
When we can return an offense with a positive response or no response, we can transform ourselves and our offender. Can the parents of their murdered child pray for the killer? We’re seeing it more and more in the news?
We may not always be able to do what Christ tells us in today’s Gospel on our own. If someone is threatening to sue us, tap into our home equity or destroy our hard-earned nest egg, we may not simply lay back and turn our cheek, but when we lift these circumstances up to God, they could be his blessings in store for something better for us.
So make peace with others who offend you. Feed their negative behaviors with your positive ones. Dominate your feeding with love and the hate of your offenders just might starve and eventually go away.
The world’s wisdom says take revenge. God’s wisdom says take the bullet. Our humanity may keep us from forgiving, but God’s graces will advance it.
Created to Be Holy
It is our calling and responsibility to be generous and loving of our neighbor. Because God is holy, we are called to be like him as Moses called the Israelites to be and St. Paul the Corinthians as well. Holiness is not from worldly or human wisdom, but of God.
Moses cautioned the people to reprove their neighbor with love and humility, not with the hatred or superiority of human wisdom that causes sin. How can we not love one another when our God who love us so much has asked us to do the same? If our dearest love on this earth loved others, how could we not let some of his or her love rub off on us as well? Isn't it natural to want to resemble them?
Raise the Curb Appeal of Your Holy Temple
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
If this truth was challenging for Paul to sell to the Corinthians, would it be any easier for us to sell in our world today? We can sell it by being it. We can “raise the curb appeal of our temples” by putting our behavior, character and spirituality on display.
What kind of example are we setting for others? What do our lifestyle, faith, family and associations say about us? Are we generous or greedy? Humble or proud? Careful or careless? Courageous or weak? Peaceful or insecure? Are we wise in our worldly eyes but ignorant of God’s wisdom in us?
Taking a regular inventory of these areas of our lives can alert us to the rehabbing “our Holy Temple” may need, and raise its curb appeal.
(For more reflections on the Sunday Readings, Go Here)
