7TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY: Luke 6:27-38
Is it possible to live the teachings of Jesus that we heard in today’s Gospel? “Love the people who are hardest to love, pray for people you don’t like, give things away, don’t ask for them back, let people take things, don’t ask for them back, let people strike you, don’t strike back, don’t judge, don’t condemn, be kind, forgive, and . . . do it all without expecting anything in return.”
I am wondering – Is this possible? Or is it idealistic or impossible? I believe many people live these radical teachings! Jesus does not ask us to do difficult things. The most important thing we need to understand is that love requires the willingness to forgive. Forgiveness is not isolated to a singular event; rather, it is a way of life! The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “He who is devoid of the power to forgive… is devoid of the power to love.” Again, King said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
A reporter watched Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta as she cleaned the infested wound of a man on the street; the reporter said to the mother: “I wouldn’t do what you do for a million dollars.” Mother replied with a beautiful smile, “I wouldn’t either.” Mother continued, “Do ordinary things with extraordinary love: little things, like caring for the sick and the homeless, the lonely and the unwanted, washing and cleaning for them.”
Let me share a meaningful story: A first-grade teacher had decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each child brought some potatoes; some had two potatoes, some three, while some had up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they went for a week. Day after day passed, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell of the rotten potatoes. After a week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended.
The teacher asked, “How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for a week?” The children expressed their frustration and complained about the trouble they had to endure, carrying the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they went.
Then, the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: “This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The unpleasant smell of hatred will contaminate your heart, and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just a week, can you imagine what it is like to have the unpleasant smell of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?”
The moral message of the story is: Throw away any hatred for anyone from our hearts so that we will not be forced to carry that burden for a lifetime. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take. Negativity about someone will keep the peace of our minds away from us. Remember the good things about him/her, and let go of the hatred! As human persons, we all carry unnecessary pain and guilty feelings, and these make our lives difficult, and we lose peace of mind.
Forgiveness gives us the freedom to love ourselves (in a healthy way), love God, and love others. We don’t need to have a heavy load on our back!
Today, we are living in a world where there is so much hatred, revenge, war, and violence. We have created many enemies in the name of power and authority. Nations fight against nations and want to win battles over others. Families fight within families and destroy the blessedness of their homes. Members of the same family keep grudges against each other for petty reasons.
To love our enemies, we should be able to say “yes” to both kinds of love: God loves me, and people love me. Say “yes” to love, and then we will realize more and more that we are loved people. Such self-awareness and self-affirmation of love will make us better persons in forgiving and loving our enemies. We are loved people. When you find it hard to love your enemies, say again and again to yourself: “I am a loved person.” Let us make this mantra a repeated prayer!