Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 19th February 2023
Abbot Paul • February 18, 2023
Those who know Fr Andrew, Parish Priest of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs on the Belmont Road and Oblate Master, will be overjoyed to learn that his by-pass operation went well yesterday, according to plan, the hospital said, and that he is comfortable, but not allowed to speak with anyone. We pray for his complete recovery and that, restored to health, he will return to his many duties in due course. May Our Lady take care of him and fill his heart with joy.
Our Gospel passage today comes from Matthew, (Mt 5: 38-48), in which we continue reading the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus explains to his disciples how the Law of Israel, God’s Law, should be kept. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees who emphasise a literal observance of the Law and the countless minutiae we find in the Pentateuch, Jesus goes to the heart of the matter: the Law should help us to love God above all else and all others and our neighbour as ourselves, leading us to be holy and perfect as God is holy and perfect. After all, we were created in the image and likeness of God, and through Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection re-created in his image and likeness through assimilation and aggregation to the Body of Christ, becoming living stones in that Body and Temples of the Holy Spirit. If God is merciful, loving and forgiving, then should we be any different? Can there be room in our hearts for hatred or a spirit of revenge, when God himself does not behave like this? Jesus came to forgive sins not to store up punishment for sinners.
Let us now read what Jesus teaches his disciples, among whom he counts us, his dear friends, and vow to live according to his teaching and example, that like him, our loving Saviour, we too might become, ”perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.
‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’”
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