In this Sunday’s gospel, the radical teaching that was begun in last week’s gospel as the beatitudes and woes is continued. We are challenged to be forgiving, compassionate and generous in the same way that God expresses abundant love. As with the blessings and curses of the Beatitudes passage from last week, this teaching continues the challenge to act against cultural and social expectations.

Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies and to do good to those who hate them. His instruction is contrary to the ‘normal’ way of doing things – and that’s exactly the message Jesus wanted to convey! Rather than a spiteful, vengeful God who keeps score and punishes wrongdoing, Jesus presents a compelling image of a God of unbounded compassion and abundant generosity.

In this passage we find one version of the Golden Rule that appears repeatedly throughout the gospels (as well as most other religious traditions): ‘Treat others as you would like them to treat you.’ It is followed up with a comment that it takes no effort to treat well people whom you like – anybody can do that. The challenge is to treat people you don’t like as you would like to be treated yourself. In a society that had very strict rules about the way to treat different people and clearly established boundaries between different groups, this was a tough ask by Jesus. Bear in mind also that there was an occupying army in the country and Jesus was encouraging the people to treat even their enemies, the Romans, with love, compassion, and forgiveness. This was a radical and challenging teaching!

Regarding how this Gospel reflects in our own lives, as a family, identify the people in your life who irritate you or even treat you badly. How can you put into practice the call to ‘love your enemies’ and ‘do good to those who hate you’? Identify practical strategies you can employ in the next week or so and make a commitment to try at least one practical strategy to turn a situation around.

CLASS MASSES:

Even though our Covid restrictions have meant we can’t gather as a school, next week we will begin our class masses with Fr. James (and Fr Josh in Terms 2-4). We begin with 4N on Wednesday at 12:15. The children and Mr O’Brien have prepared the Mass and will bring home the Mass booklet so you can talk about the celebration with your children. Hopefully in Term 2 we will be able to invite the community to Mass to share in the Eucharistic celebration.

Have a great week!

Sharee