Our Gospel has Jesus saying: ”You have heard it said,” but he responds to this by saying, “but, I say to you ... “ Jesus is a great teacher. He tries to instruct the people, reshaping what they had previously heard and learned, putting it in a different perspective. In a lot of ways, Jesus was transforming what they thought about God, transforming how they interacted with God and how they related to God. Think about how the Jewish faith thought that certain people were unclean in the eyes of God. Jesus specifically sought out such people and reached out to them and called them to repentance. Jesus helps the people recapture a deeper sense of who God is and who they were called to be. A lot of those who were oppressed and marginalized and condemned as sinners in society in Ancient Israel saw Jesus’ proclamations as a a powerful message that would affect their lives in a very real way. They saw it as a reflection of a God of love and mercy who was offering them reconciliation, healing and peace. They saw it as a message from a God who was in solidarity with them. But, I would imagine that those in positions of power saw these proclamations as a threat. When we see life as clear cut and easy to define, anything that breaks that balance can strike fear in us. It directly attacked the way they saw God and the way they approached their faith. So back to the message Jesus brings to us in the Gospel today. Loving our enemies? Praying for those who persecute us? That message was not just radical in Jesus' day, but it is radical today as well. How are we responding to what our faith calls us to do? All this pertains to what is going on in our country today, doesn’t it?Hopefully, we will see the message Christ is proclaiming us today as a call to look at our lives and to change our hearts.
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