Homily for the Week of February 23, 2014

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2014

Lv 19:1-2,17-18 • 1 Cor 3:16-23 • Mt 5:38-48

         I recently read about 10-year-old girl who had been chosen to read the Gospel I just read at a prayer service for her class. When she got home from school she said to her father, “I had that passage where Jesus says, ‘Turn the other cheek.’  Dad, I think Jesus is wrong.” We might think so, too, or at least we might wish that Jesus is wrong or that he meant something less literal. Unfortunately for those who wish Jesus did not mean exactly what he said, But Jesus did mean exactly what He said. Jesus and all three Bible readings for today tell us that his followers must be holy. 

        

         And it is appropriate that we should consider holiness today since we have about 10 days before we begin Lent. Lent is a time of spiritual renewal during which we try to do more holy things like praying more, learning about our Catholic faith, and trying to change how  we might be living our Catholic faith along with fasting from food and other things that control us. We do not have a preparation time for Lent.  However, we should turn our eyes toward Lent and ask ourselves how we are going to use it.  

         But what is holiness?  Usually we think we are holy when we are being good, doing good things and avoiding sin. You may be surprised that this is not exactly holiness, because any good person is good, does good and avoids evil. . To be holy is to try to be like God.  God loves all of his children; so must we. God forgives, so must we. God expresses mercy, so must we. This is incredibly hard, but with God’s help it is possible. Being holy is about a relationship, not about goodness.

         When we think about holiness we often think of individuals such as the saints like Saint Brother André of Montreal. Persons like Brother Andre or Mother Teresa give us examples as how to live as holy persons. But these were holy because they introduced God and Jesus to others. When did you talk about God or Jesus to others? Is your family, your workplace, your school, more God like because of you? To be holy we must concern ourselves not only with our individual relationship with God, but also with our relationship with the communities to which we belong.

         Our first reading today was from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. The part of Leviticus we read from today is referred to as the Holiness Code. The three sentences outline for us the way to approach holiness. You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Cherish no grudge against anyone. You shall love your neighbor has yourself. God tells us. These requests of God have to do with our relationships within the community in which we live. We are not to bear hatred toward anyone in our community because God does not. However, we can point out to others when necessary who are doing something wrong, because, if they are doing wrong, everyone suffers. God has a history of correcting those who lead others astray. We take no revenge and we hold no grudge because God does neither of these things. If we do them, we hurt the community. We are to act in love toward those in our community because God does. This love is not about how we feel about someone; it is about our willingness to care for someone. 

         Over time there developed a system of justice that fell astray from this Holiness Code. A system of retribution and revenge developed.  

         Jesus gives us an updated Holiness Code, one that goes far beyond the demands of Leviticus. In Jesus’ day, the worst insult was to strike a person on the cheek with a backhand. This insult always resulted in a bloody fight. Honor had to be satisfied. But Jesus said, “No.” Honor is not regained this way. Honor is regained by not retaliating. To make His point He exaggerates by saying we should even offer the other cheek! This would not have been well received at all. The point is that for Jesus, reconciliation and preserving the unity of the community of faith outweigh all other considerations. Jesus is not advising us to let evildoers freely abuse us; rather, we are not to retaliate by the same means. We are to respond with an action that confronts the evildoer non-violently, thus breaking the cycle of violence and opening up a new possibility by which gestures of reconciliation can be reciprocated.

         In the last section Jesus deals with the command to love our neighbor. Nowhere in the Bible is there a command or permission to hate the enemy.  We are to set no bounds on our love just as God sets no bounds on his divine love for us.

         Holiness is found in following the purpose of Jesus’ life: preaching, death and resurrection. All was done to reunite us with the Father, to bring us into community with the Father. For our Lenten discipline and sacrifice, we might ponder how we can achieve this holiness. You will find at the entrance to the church a variety of booklets on our Catholic faith, our Catholic prayer, and our Catholic way of life. Use them to help you being holier during Lent 2014.