It is in loving our enemies that we are exalted (HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT

Homily for Saturday of the 1st week of Lent

Deut. 26:16-19; Ps.119; Matt.5:43-48

Theme: It is in loving our enemies that we are exalted

In Matt.5:17, Jesus made it clear that He has come not to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil it. This means He has come to perfect what the Law and the Prophets aim at, namely, to reconcile man to God.

Beginning from Deut.5:1, the Lord gave the law to the people through Moses. Today’s first reading is a conclusion to the giving of the law. This conclusion spells out a covenantal relationship wherein the parties involved have a duty towards each other. This relationship is conditional. If the people should keep the statutes and ordinances as the Lord commands, then the Lord shall set them high above all other nations and they shall be holy. The focus here is that the Lord promises to set them high above all other nations.

Jesus the Son of God, is the New Covenant. He speaks directly to us (and not through the prophets), and He best explicates the spirit of the law (as against the hypocritical altitude of the Scribes and the Pharisees). In this New Covenant (which perfects the old), the basis of our union with God is love. John 3:16 is clear about this “Yes, God so LOVED the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life”. This too is conditional because it invariably implies that whoever will not believe in Jesus will perish. What the New Covenant requires of us is to love.

This love has a target. Just as we saw in the first reading, through it, the Lord will set us high above other nations. Other nations here signify sinners (tax collectors and gentiles). “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matt.5:46). Therefore, it is in loving our enemies that we fulfill our own part of the New Covenant; it in loving our enemies that we will be believing in Him in order for us not to perish but gain eternal life (with reference to Jn.3:16).

Why will Jesus ask us to love and pray for our enemies; a prayer for their good, when we are rest assured that He answers prayer? First, only God can judge and has the right to condemn. Second, He wants the conversion and not destruction of the sinner.

For us to see someone as our enemies, we must have been convinced that the person does not wish us well and works for our downfall. But then, God will always keep his own bargain of the Covenant, namely, to love us. And so Jesus tells us in Lk.12:7 not to be afraid because even the hairs of our head have been numbered.

Beloved, if an enemy is ever able to touch the Lord’s anointed, it is because the Lord permits; not for our downfall but for the eventual glorification of His name. The Psalmist assures us that so long as we walk in the law of the Lord, we shall remain blessed. So, do not be afraid to love and pray for your enemies. God is still in charge!

Have a blessed day