Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

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.”

Reflections
“Do good to those who hate you.”
Here is the most radical of Jesus’ instructions to his hearers, and probably the most difficult of all to do: “Love your enemies and do good to them.” What makes it so important in human affairs? Many problems in the world, past, present and future, could have been/ could be avoided. The world would be a more peaceful place to live in. Love of enemies invites one to be extravagantly and extraordinarily generous. It goes beyond the “reciprocity system” being practiced during the time of Jesus: “I give you something/favor; I expect something in return from you.”Extreme generosity overturns this system and replaces it with: “I am willing to give, even without anything in return.” It is selfless. The motivation for giving is not the favorable return that will be received, but the pure joy and un- conditional love flowing from the love of God. Extravagant generosity means the willingness to give to anyone in need, and it goes to the extent of wishing/doing good to one’s enemies. In the reciprocity system, one sees the self as the end point; the action terminates back to the self, not on the other. On the other hand, love and generosity see the other as the endpoint, the sole beneficiary of the action.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 6:20-26
Then, looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Fortunate are you, who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Fortunate are you, who weep now, for you will laugh. Fortunate are you, when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.
But alas for you, who have wealth, for you have been comforted now. Alas for you, who are full, for you will go hungry. Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Alas for you, when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.

Reflections
“Fortunate are you who are poor.”
The first thing that comes to mind when we encounter the word “poor” are the people considered as economically or materially needy and those who are disadvantaged. However, in the gospel passage that is not the case, although it is not ruled out: “‘The poor’ are all whose emptiness and destitution provide scope for the generosity of God” (Brendan Byrne). Their condition creates the opportunity so that divine goodness could operate in their lives. The situation might include a deep feeling of emptiness, uncertainty and hopelessness. No one is exempted from these kinds of feeling regardless of economic and social status. In situations where the prevailing feeling is that of emptiness and destitution, one is invited to open up to the power of God and to receive his generosity. He/she could find comfort in the encounter with God, which could subsequently lead to the unfolding of a new world of hope and opportunities.
There are conditions that help the human heart open up to God’s power and goodness. Unbelief, arrogance, and self- conceit shuts its door and cancels out space for divine occupancy. It is the thought that any external power, or influence, makes any contribution. Outside factors (or the God-factor) are simply out of the picture.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 6:12-19
At this time, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, he called his disciples to him, and chose Twelve of them, whom he called ‘apostles’: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of his disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And people troubled by unclean spirits were cured. The entire crowd tried to touch him, because of the power that went out from him and healed them all.

Reflections
“Chose twelve whom he called ‘apostles’.”
The far-reaching mission of Jesus, from the Father and through the apostles, extends to us. It is alive in those people who were touched by Christ’s spirit, and fully embraced it in their lives. No matter how great or simple (measuring it in human terms) it may be, it has a particular thing to accomplish in the reign of God’s love, justice and mercy; and to God, it has tremendous significance. That extension in us is specific to us. It is only you or I who can carry it out meaningfully, effectively. In saying this who else can/will do it aside from us? Because of us Jesus’ mission reaches far and wide; and, it leaves a historical mark for people to continue.
Who can stop God’s reign of love, justice and mercy except only us? Each of us may prevent an element of Christ’s mission to proceed by saying “no” to that which we are called to do, but it will not completely stop because it will always find a suitable per- son to further the mission. Christ's Spirit continues to touch the hearts of women and men so that it may renew all creation.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 6:6-11
On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralyzed right hand, and the teachers of the law and the Pharisees watched him: Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to the man, “Get up, and stand in the middle.” Then he spoke to them, “I want to ask you: what is allowed by the law on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And Jesus looked around at them all.
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other. But they were furious, and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

Reflections
“To save life or destroy it.”
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). This, according to Jesuit New Testament scholar Brendan Byrne, is the heart of Jesus mission. It is a life that is lived to the full; a life of peace, justice and love; a life filled with compassion and mercy, with tenderness and caring. It is a new way of living where humans do not live in want, but abundance.
A parishioner in our Sydney parish is in the third month of pregnancy when she was ad- vised by her obstetrician to terminate her pregnancy. She was told that the pregnancy is risky because of her age (She is in her late forties.) and that there is big chance the baby will be borne with defects. In a conversation with her, she recounted that after much prayer she and her husband decided to keep the baby, and that she continued to pray for the baby the rest of the pregnancy. Several months went past. On one Sunday evening, after the mass, I saw her with the baby on the pram. She told me they are so grateful that they decided to keep their baby. The last time I saw her and her family was few weeks before their flight back to England.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019