Saint Paul wrote in the first reading from the book of Corinthians today, that, “love builds up.” That pretty much summarizes all of the readings for Mass today. Just three, simple words to remember, that love builds other people up, it doesn’t tear them down. Everything else in the scriptures today are pretty much an explanation of these three, simple words, if you read back through the scriptures with this verse in mind.
It is very easy to tear people down. We all know what that feels like. Sometimes people treat others badly, in order to feel better about themselves though. Actually, the worse a person acts, the louder is their cry for love. At the root of so many sins, is a misguided attempt to be loved. Jesus verbalizes this in today’s gospel, when he tells us to love our enemies, and do good to those who mistreat us, because sinful actions are actually, an ineffective attempt to feel loved.
All of our actions in life are oriented toward two things. To love, or be loved. Every single action of our lives is either consciously, or unconsciously, done in an attempt to be loved, or to give love to others. Love is the root of our lives, even if we are not fully aware of it.
Evil is actually love, but it is perverted. Evil weighs people down, spiritually, and drags everyone around them down too. That is why the three words in the first reading for Mass are very important. The only way to bring one side of the scales up higher is to add weight to the other side. Love counters evil, elevates it, and can eventually heal it, if you remain open to God’s grace.
That’s the hard part of today’s gospel. It is hard to keep an open heart, when others intentionally hurt you. Our instincts are to recoil, close up, and pull away from that person. Who wants to hurt again? We often stay away from people who hurt us because we just don’t want to be hurt anymore. If others are frequently hurting us, then our hearts become hard, in an attempt to deflect the painful feelings before they ever happen. We think that they can’t hurt us, if we don’t put ourselves out there to be hurt in the first place.
Selfishness is actually the definition of sin. This is also something that is well worth remembering. Instead of calling sin, sin, we could simply call it selfishness. And, if you read back over the gospel today, Jesus is calling our attention to our own selfishness. Yes, other people sin against us, but our response can also be sinful. If someone steals from us, we want the item back that was stolen, even if it causes a big scene and a lot of hard feelings. The hard feelings can be more detrimental for the long term sometimes, than the short term loss of a possession. It can eat at you like a cancer, if you can’t let it go.
We don’t want to loan money to people that we know isn’t going to repay us either, but sometimes it is necessary, and the right thing to do, to do so. There is a wonderful saying about this situation though. “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” There are creative ways to help people for the long term, if we take the time, thought, and effort to help them. Sometimes people just can’t figure things out for themselves very well, they need someone to show them the ropes, so to speak.
The gospel ends today with Jesus telling us:
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
The measurement – is love. Even in nature, there is a cause and affect. A reaction to every action. You get back, what you give out. There are some people who call this Karma. It is a universal principle that many other religions recognize too.
We can’t change other people, we can only change ourselves. This is a principle that counselors and therapists use, but Jesus taught it first, in today’s gospel. Jesus Christ is the best counselor, mentor, therapist, teacher, role model, best friend, and companion for life that we could ever want.
Why do we neglect our friendship with the Lord as often as we do? If we need to be loved, then we should go to the source of love first. Get back to the basics. Get back to a good relationship with the Lord, through the sacraments and a daily prayer life. If we have lost contact with his deep, unconditional love for us, it is because we pulled away from him. Jesus still extends his hands in love and friendship to us, though. We should also do the same for others.
Daily Mass Readings:
1 Corinthians 8: 1b-7, 11-13 / Psalm 139 / Luke 6: 27-38
