The Courage to Love

/ Pastor Message

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Responsorial Psalm 1: Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Gospel: Luke 6:27-38

Luke 06:27

Following last Sunday’s gospel on the Beatitudes, Jesus is teaching us very high ideals. We are afraid to try them because it’s too high a standard of living. But what Jesus teaches is so down to earth that anybody who has the courage to try growing in this love can find the proper attitude, provided he is willing to work on it with great faith. Jesus is talking common sense here. We cannot be angry with a person who is so kind to us. We cannot be indifferent to a person who is helpful whenever we are in need. We cannot be tough to a person who listens attentively to us and is reasonable. We cannot be selfish to the person who is generous.

Jesus does not talk about love because somebody deserves it. The stress is on love that is merciful, that is given to a person who has no merit to claim it or who has no counterpart to offer. Humanly speaking, it is a lonely love, for it is a one-way affair. For us Christians, it is not a lonely affair, for the Lord is with us all the way. He is the power behind the risk we are willing to take. Jesus is inviting us to keep our decision free from evil, no matter how much it threatens us. It will not push us into wrong behavior. On the contrary, we will be on the offensive by initiating attitudes and moves which may run painful relationships into happy ones.
Picture of Efren Tomas

Efren Tomas

In 2004, Father Efren arrived on Maui, Hawaii to be the Pastor of Christ The King Catholic Church in Kahului, Maui until 2012. He calls Christ The King his home because this was his first parish in Hawaii.
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