It Is Grace That Makes Us Holy

𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟑:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟓𝟎:𝟏-𝟔 “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟔:𝟐𝟕-𝟑𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔…” (𝒗.27) 

         We know Jesus to be a person with a firm conviction who holds his ground when it comes to debating over traditions and practices that the Scribes and Pharisees carved from the Mosaic law and this gospel passage today has become one of the most contentious during his ministry that this is still being debated to this day.

         Why? Because it runs counter to the Jewish tradition of an “𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 5:38) and for us to understand what Jesus meant when he said: “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒅𝒐 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (𝒗𝒗.27-28) we will need to digest what Our Lord really meant when he used the word “𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞” because we need to discover what it means for us to obey what he is telling us to do.

         Take for example the current controversies involving the wanton malversation of public funds intended to mitigate the effects of floods in Mega Manila. How in heaven’s name can you possibly love those involved in this scandal where some P545-Billion were literally stolen from the public coffers.

          If we take it closer to home, how can you love those who pocketed these government funds which otherwise could have been used to help the poor, build school rooms, expand the health benefits of indigents. How about those officials – elected or otherwise – who are known to be corrupt to the core and devoid of any moral ascendancy but are still glued to their posts as if they are entitled to it.

          How about those who sow confusion and disunity in the church, in community or in your ministries, can you love them? Or what about those who spread gossip about you? How about those who refuse to grow spiritually who persist in their stubbornness as did the Pharisees, can you also love them?

         In the time of Jesus, Greek was the universal language and the word “𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞” usually referred to three types of feeling. One was “𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏” which pertains to passionate love or the love of a man towards a woman. Another form of love was "𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒊𝒏"        which refers to loving those within our family circle, a warm affection of the heart.

         But what Jesus used in stressing his point in this passage was "𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒏" which defines love as an active feeling of benevolence towards another person. It simply means that regardless of what another person does to us we will not allow ourselves to desire anything but the highest good of that person.

         What this passage comes down to is the fact that it is easy or natural to say the least for us to love those who are dear to us – our parents, siblings, children, relatives and even close friends and to love them is something we cannot help doing.   

         But to love our enemies or to treat with benevolence those whom we are not friendly with is not only something that comes from our hearts, but it is something that springs from our will which is impelled by the Grace of God that is at work in us.

         This is what makes Christians different and what makes Christianity distinct from any other religion. As Christians we are filled with Grace which moves us to treat others, not as they deserve, but as God wishes to be treated – with loving-kindness and mercy.

         God is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of others, even those who hate and abuse us. Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us.

         The Christian norm is and should always be on the positive side and it does not consist in not doing bad things but in doing what is good. We are all too familiar with the Golden Rule that tells us not to do to others what we don’t want others to do to us.

         This kind of ethics merely encourages us to refrain from doing bad things to others. What Jesus is telling us in this Gospel today is the positive form of the Golden Rule which is to do good things to others. In fact, the message of this passage is for us to bend backwards and do more than what is necessary, to go out of our way and serve the highest good of another person even at our own inconvenience.

         Jesus commands us not only to avoid returning evil for evil but that we must seek the good of those who wish us ill. This means that we are to humble ourselves and accept insults, as Jesus did, with no resentment or malice. It also means doing more than what is expected of us. This means that we need to rise above the level of expectations when we are confronted with insults, intrigues, wrongdoing, and persecution and that we must respond with grace and cheerfulness.

         When we are wronged, the human tendency is always to get even. But what Jesus is telling us in this Gospel reading is to do good to those who wrong us. Our Lord commands us that we should not keep score of whatever wrongs done to us but to just love and forgive.

         There was a time when a couple in the community accused me of wrongdoing and as we are about to begin our dialogue, this couple placed on the table a record of what appears to be a list of supposed sins that I allegedly committed against them. The dialogue that was intended to resolve our differences never led to any reconciliation between us since this couple would not accept anything short of my admitting all those things he had written in his list. And the dialogue ended the way it started.

          While we may think it to be hard and difficult to do, we are a supernatural being and we can rely on God to give us the strength to love as he does and instead of seeking vengeance, it would be a much better proposition if we can just pray for those who may have hurt us.

          How we will respond to difficult situations such as when others wrong us or hurt us will define our character and this is what makes a Christian stand out in the crowd. When we are encountering difficulty in forgiving others, we only have to look at the cross of Jesus Christ and we will be freed of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment and Christ Himself will give us the courage to return evil with good. It is this kind of love and grace which will give us the power to be healed of our hatred and bitterness that will eventually save us from our own destruction.

          Let me end with this prayer: “𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 - 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘫𝘰𝘺, 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺.

         𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘔𝘌𝘕! (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 11, 2025)