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(23rd Feb 2025) Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (1 Sam 26: 2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; 1Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6: 27-38)

REFLECT: Seek Good - God loves those who seek good…

Dear friends, we are in Seventh Sunday in ordinary Time. We all would agree that we have a good God who helps and enables us to see good, say good, hear good, do good, be good and seek good. Based on our experiences we could assert that the one who seeks gets what he or she seeks, because hearts desires is always a deep delight to seek and find satisfaction. However, our desire must be in God, who makes our desires to turn to good action or inspiration to others. In the midst of different opinions of each one of us, we vary in languages, religion, region etc. Is it impossible to seek good? I don’t think it’s impossible. Perhaps it may be or seem tough and hard but not impossible. Because, everyone at the ground level thirsts for being good and doing good but only the circumstances and situations make us indifferent to the others’ feelings and emotions. But today’s readings help us how we can seek good, do and be Good to all by the grace of God. Therefore, based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection.

1.      Feel the anointing of God in other

We are all anointed by God. Anointing is a sign of our total consecration and thereby we totally submit and surrender unto the ways of God. As St. Paul writes, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee, for if you are in Christ, you are anointed by God and have his full anointing,” (2 Cor 1:20-22). So we are all anointed by God by the fact that we are in Christ and so we need to feel the anointing of God in us and in others as Christ is in the other too. In fact, that’s what we see in the first reading from the first book of Samuel. The first reading exhorts us to feel the anointing of God in the other.

The first reading very clearly tells us, although, David had every chance to put an end to Saul’s life, yet David says, “Do not harm him for who can lay hands on the anointed one of God.” This shows that David loved and respected God, loved and respected people, who are anointed by God, loved King Saul with his own limits and did not take justice into his own hands. We have in our catholic tradition that popes, bishops, priests and spiritual leaders are anointed in order to lead and guide the people of God. However, it does not mean that wrongdoings of the anointed ones could be ignored or taken for granted rather it indicates that we are nobody to judge and the judgment is reserved to God alone. We need to realize that even in the midst of injustice and persecutions, we need to pray, persist in patience and trust in divine providence than condemnation or an unjust verdict on the other.

Today many people hurt and kill others; they don’t feel or value the anointing of God in the other. So what we need to do is to instill in people to respect everyone and make those anointed to be responsible in their dealings with one another; we need to revere the anointing of God in the anointed of God, avoiding vengeance and leaving verdict to God alone. All the more, we need to pray for wisdom and the spirit of God to animate and control our approach towards this holy obligation to value and respect the anointed one of God. Today let’s pray that we feel the anointing of God in ourselves and others begin to value others as well. For when we value and respect God it would imply that we value and respect God. For Jesus says,” whatsoever you do it for my brothers and sisters you do it for me.. (Mathew 25:40). So instead of revenge and vengeance, let us see Christ in the other; instead of conflicts and confusion, let us be convinced and committed to the call of Christ; instead of immediate reaction to the action of injustice, let us be prudent, patient and rely on the perfect justice of God.

That’s what Pope Francis would say, “a person who judges takes the wrong place, becomes confused and is defeated. And in doing this he isn’t imitating Jesus, who always defends before the Father: he’s a defence lawyer. One, who judges, rather, is an imitator of the prince of this world, who always goes against people to accuse them before the Father.” Yes, let us not judge people and take the place of God or go against God’s verdict. Let us not be moved by impulses of human feelings, emotions, desires to judge and condemn people rather handle those who have wronged us or have been at fault with mercy, compassion, reconciliation and forgiveness as God deals with us, even when we sin or engage in evil deeds.

2.      Accept the human and divine aspect

We are born as human beings on earth but we have also innate aspect of divinity in us because we are created in the image and likeness of God. Although at times human limitations seem to overpower us or downplay our role as human persons yet the divine aspect in us is what makes us divine, humble, gentle and powerful, making us grow through our human limitations, gradually overcoming them by realizing that we belong to God who is so holy and divine. Therefore, our life is a call to perfection and the perfection is obtained when we understand that we are composites of two aspects human and divine. We all must attest and accept to the fact that it is the divine power, which helps us to overcome human limitations for a perfect life on earth.

That’s what we see in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to Corinthians “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.”  Yes, we are earthly beings but we also possess the image of heavenly one Jesus. Jesus is so holy and pure in image, so also we need to become like Christ, to work and progress towards perfection. St. Paul presents before us the contrast between Adam, the first man, who represents earthly place or earthly nature and with Christ, the new Adam, who represents the heavenly nature or heavenly place. Thereby, we obtain our human nature from Adam, but in and through Jesus Christ, we a new, glorified nature, which transforms us into a new creation, a visible image of God on earth.

St. Paul by presenting to us the divine power in us exhorts u not remain in our fallen state of sinfulness and weaknesses of  human flesh rather enables us to understand that we could gradually become transformed people by the power of God instilled in us through Christ. The passage from St. Paul takes us to live the image of Christ here and now although the full transformation takes place in eternity. It is an indication to each one of us as followers of Christ to reflect and live the image of Christ in our daily lives by way of holiness, love, kindness, faith and generosity.

Most of us fail to see in us or fail to understand that we are composites of human and divine aspect. We get stranded from the goal of life due to the lack of understanding that we have both human and divine aspects. So we need to realize that within our human limitations what empowers us the divine power of God. The divine power or fiber within us makes us truly human and divine, makes us true children of God makes us worthwhile Christians, makes us respectful and generous to others, makes us to be loving and kind-hearted to one another and above all the divine power of God enables us to manifest the image of God by words and deeds. Today, in order to become the living images of Christ or to resemble Christ in our lives, we need to frequent Holy Sacraments, which help us to be in communion with God, which builds us a rapport to be in deep relationship with God. The sacrament that really renews us in Christ daily is Holy Communion, sacrament of confession and reconciliation. Let us then pray to Jesus to bless us to be living examples and becoming visible images of God on earth to inspire people and bring the strayed sheep to the fold of Christ.

3.      Dare to be different in deed

In the gospel of Mathew, we have chapters 5-7 the series of Laws and legislations concerning what one should do and what one should not do. Perhaps we could call those as do’s and don’ts of Christian life. But Luke presents to us few sayings of Jesus as how the disciples are directed to Love enemies and avoid judgements, to go beyond human limits and limitations and become generous to people in our giving and service. We could perhaps call the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke as paths to radical love.

The two contradictory phrases in the Gospel of Luke are the following; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you; Give without expecting repayment; Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful; Do not judge, and you will not be judged; Forgive, and you will be forgiven; Give generously, and it will be given back to you in abundance. These phrases indicate the opposition to one another, but the stress or importance is given to the positive and the good virtue or vibe that make us God’s Children and worthwhile followers of Christ. In this passage of Lucan Gospel, Jesus lays invitation to us his followers to walk on the path of radical love that goes beyond human logic or human perception. We all know and are aware that the natural response to hatred is revenge or retaliate, but Jesus instructs us to love even those who hurt us, harm us or have done injustice. This manifests God’s unconditional and merciful love over us his people.

The natural flow of life requires the following; to ordinary things, we need to have ordinary power and we don’t invest a lot of power or strength to do a small or a venial thing, because the power, dynamism and energy is channelized accordingly. However, extra-ordinary things require extra-ordinary power and strength, because we explore or get into contact with something that’s new, more powerful that requires careful attention, serious planning, more power and the grace o f God. Thus, doing extra-ordinary deeds require extra-ordinary power. it requires extra energies, extra efforts, extra miles to walk with and work with. That’s what we see in the Gospel of Luke, loving enemies, blessing those cursed us, praying for those persecuted us, forgiving those who hurt us, giving to others without any expectation. It is not quite natural to all of us because it costs us to go out of our way to find a way for peace and reconciliation.

Sometimes for being so generous, loving, caring, people might call us fools, mad, but remember when the deeds are good, God blesses in abundance. Because the measure we give will be the measure that God gives us. Jesus reminds us that how we treat others influence how we will be treated by God. If we are generous, kind, and forgiving, we will obtain the same in return. Jesus calls us His followers to a love that goes beyond human logic. The natural response to hatred is revenge, but Jesus commands us to love even those who hurt us. This reflects God’s love, which is unconditional and merciful. Thus, Jesus calls us to a higher form of love in our Christian call to live life on earth. It is a love that reflects God’s own love, mercy and generosity. By following these virtues and standards of God, we become true disciples and bring the light of Christ into the world.

I personally feel, this call requires courage and commitment. Therefore, we need to dare to be different in deed by going extra miles to repair the damage done and to build relationships genuinely with God and with one another. Today instead of holding grudges we need to pray for those who hurt us, bring those in trouble or difficulty in prayer; Instead of seeking revenge, we need to respond with kindness and gentleness. In order to exhibit the merciful face of God, we could be patient with the workers we have or associate daily, family members and neighbors. Indeed, if someone is arrogant and boastful, we could respond them gently in humility instead of creating conflict and confusion. Let us make every effort to be generous with our time, resources, and talents to help others without expecting praise or repayment for what we have done. Let us try to practice different deeds of Love that touch and heal others like a gentle smile, a kind word, or an act of service or even a sacrifice for  goodness, so that we may reflect the love of Christ in our lives daily.

That’s precisely Pope Francis would say, “God’s love is a love always in excess, always beyond calculation, always disproportionate. And today he is also asking us to live in this way, because only in this way will we truly bear witness to him.” The pope also acknowledged that it is not easy to love like Christ, but it is possible because God loves us while we are sinners, not because we are good or able to give something back to him.” Yes, God always loves us, let us love God and seek good in all that we do. People may criticize us for being extraordinarily different in manifesting God’s love to one another. However, let us rely on God’s unfathomable love, which has power to change and for which God always gives courage and encourages with his manifold graces.

RESPOND:

Do we feel the anointing of God in the others and give due respect and leave judgment to God alone?

Do we realize and accept that we have two-fold aspects in us human and divine and allow the divine power to work in and through us?

Do we dare to be different by following Christ’s path of radical love by going beyond human logics and perception to manifest images of Christ in our lives?

Let us realize the anointing of God in others, allow the divine power of God to empower us and follow the path of radical love laid by Christ to seek good and manifest Christ in our lives. Amen.

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS