Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 24, 2019 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C [omit in 2010]
[1 Sam 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; 1 Cor 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38]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. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not without even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. [Luke]
I once saw a poster that read: If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? The gospel scripture today from the Gospel According to Luke will seem familiar to us because they repeat much of what the Gospel According to Matthew says in the Sermon on the Mount. These words are a catechism of Christian conduct. What should distinguish us as Christians is not just what we believe but how we live it. The CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH will provide us with plenty of dogmatic, theological and doctrinal information about our Catholic tradition, but it remains just words on paper if no one preaches and lives in the manner that Jesus clearly preaches. The "Sermon on the Plain" in Luke and the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew bring us face to face with practical, skin-on, Christianity. What does it mean to BE a Christian?
A "Peanuts" cartoon I once saw quoted the character of Linus, Lucy's little brother, as saying, "I love humanity. It's people I hate!" If we take each of the lines from today's gospel and rate ourselves according to the traditional academic scale, I wonder what our GPA would be? The gospel today is basic Christianity. Would we get a passing grade? If we were arrested for being a Christian, would there indeed be enough evidence to convict us? AMEN