to the one who asks and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back. Do
to others as you would have others do to you. If you love only those who love you, what kind of
graciousness is yours? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do favors to those who are
good to you, what kind of graciousness is yours? Even sinners do the same. If you lend only when
you expect to receive, what kind of graciousness is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners,
expecting to receive something in return. But love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great and you
will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For he is kind towards the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged;
do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will
be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and
running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”

Reflection:

The gospel today teaches us how to
live a Christian life. It says that love should be the
overriding concern of His follower. This calls for a
life lived extraordinarily. For what Jesus wants goes
against the instinct of people. It is the purification
of self-centeredness. It is an expansion of awareness
that includes the other, more so the enemies.
And so, to live a life of a Christian is a tough choice.
It is to embrace the counterinstinctual life that Jesus
proposes. This is sometimes lost in the fact that many
of us are born and raised in the Christian faith. But
our understanding of its attendant obligation is
superficial. We grow with it in us already but we are not
asked to render an account of our responsibility. That
is why this gospel refreshes us on what should be our
stance in life. The follower of Jesus is a slave of love.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2021