Reflection One of St Paul’s exhortations was to avoid being contentious with one another but instead love one another and do good as we have been, “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.” Today, Jesus supports St Paul’s exhortation as He teaches us what we are supposed to do when someone oppresses us and hates us and unfairly takes what is ours. Even if we are right, Jesus wants us to give in to our transgressor and oppressor, so that in our humility and kindness, we may be able to win him to our side. So that we may be able to make him realize how wrong his actions were and be able to afford him the chance to be sorry, be repentant and in time, resolve to do good. The approach Jesus wants us to take is for us to deny ourselves of the chance to claim what is rightfully ours but in deep love to give more of ourselves. He wants us to persevere and endure any injury that is inflicted on us and never to have a mind set of “get him before he gets you” and an attitude that the ‘best defense is a good offense and counter attack.’ If we follow Jesus and His way, we are not only able to avoid sin, return good for what is evil but we are able to give others a chance to re-consider their ways and have a change of heart. Rather than fight and condemn others, we are able to love, forgive and accept. Jesus said: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. When Jesus said love your enemies I consider it to mean that we need to have the will to forgive our enemies even before they say, “I am sorry” and asks for forgiveness. To be able to have such disposition is to be like God Who showed His love for us in that while we were yet sinners He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. We become Christ-like because just like Him Who willingly died for our cause, we are also able to willingly die to ourselves amidst the pain in our hearts and forgive our transgressor. When we forgive, we are able to avoid our hearts from shrinking and becoming smaller and narrower with less and less room to take in the friendship and love that people want to give us. When we love and forgive, we make our hearts not only bigger but warmer, more open, and hopeful. Because we have such a heart we are able to see a very different world, a world filled with good people, a world of people who are struggling to get life right, people who will get to be what God wants them to be if we lend them a hand instead of turning away. If we love and forgive, we turn enemies into friends and bring wholeness to others just the way God does. Always measure with love and forgiveness, “for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Direction The will to forgive should always be in us. To forgive is to love and be loved in return. Prayer Heavenly Father, see if my way is crooked and lead me in the way of old. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way. In Jesus, I pray. Amen
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 03:39:51 +0000
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