Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 19, 2017 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Lev 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Matt 5:38-48]SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2017. SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME [Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48] Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. [1 Corinthians] I have just completed a retreat for priests under the title, "Wise Maintenance of the Lord's Temple." My advice to them was basically that a good balance of prayer, study, community and ministry is the best way to maintain the "temple of the Lord." The first scripture today from Leviticus and the gospel scripture from Matthew show some particular examples of that maintenance. The last line of the first scripture from Leviticus is, according to Jesus, one of the two most important commandments: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The gospel scripture reinforces that. Jesus preaches a gospel of non-violence in which he tells us that we must love our enemies! This is one of the most difficult challenges of all Jesus' teachings. For many people, the words that were heard during the recent election season, "If you hit me I'll hit you back, only harder," are a way of life. The desire for revenge can become a cancer, eating away at the inner structure of the temple. On a lower but still corrosive level is the ordinary "grudge." Along with it is a refusal to forgive. These vices are like termites that tear away the inside of the temple while leaving the outside seemingly unaffected until a sudden collapse. Who are the people in our lives whom we need to forgive or from whom we need to seek forgiveness? Who is the person who has hurt us the most? Wise maintenance of the Lord's temple, which we are, means taking action to get ride of the termites of violence, grudges and unforgiveness so that we are not mere facades, but rather everything our faith should manifest. AMEN
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