7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) - 23 February 2025
23rd February 2025
“That your enemies have been created is God's doing; that they hate you and wish to ruin you is their own doing. What should you say about them in your mind? ‘Lord be merciful to them, forgive them their sins, put the fear of God in them, change them!’ You are loving in them not what they are, but what you would have them to become.”
- St Augustine of Hippo
A reflection on today's Gospel by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"‘A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you.’
"What is new about this Commandment? Did not the Old Law say, ‘Love one another’? Have not all ethical teachers through the centuries pleaded for altruism? What is new about it? Two things are new: First, the way Our Lord loved us, that is, to the point of self-sacrifice. Second, it is new, because it is a Commandment. By making it a Commandment, Our Divine Lord made a distinction between liking and loving. Liking is in the emotions, in the temperament, in the glands, in feelings, and over these we have little or no control. Loving, however, is in the will and, therefore is subject to command. There are certain things we do not like, and we cannot help not liking them. For example, I do not like chicken. Instinctive reactions in us we cannot completely control, but by putting love in the will, we can control it, and even extend it to those whom we do not like. Love, then, is not a gush but a virtue; not a spasmodic enthusiasm, but an abiding relationship of service, affection, and sacrifice.
"The Commandment is new, not only because it is in the will, but also because the Model of such love is God Himself: ‘As I have loved you.’ He loved us when as yet we were sinners. When anyone does us wrong, we say, ‘You lost my love; change, and then I will love you.’ Our Blessed Lord, on the contrary, says, ‘Love someone, and then he will change. Let your love be the creation of his betterment.’ It was the love that He gave Peter the night that Peter denied Him that made Peter change. Tradition has it that Peter went out and wept so much that he created furrows in his cheeks, because he had hurt Someone that he loved.
"Our Blessed Lord gave the test of love when He said, ‘Love your enemies.’ We are not to expect anything in return, but to go on loving even in the midst of hostility and persecution. Love is disinterested when it continues despite hate. By making the love of neighbour an affair of the will, and not a matter of feeling, Our Saviour took love out of the narrow circle of self, exiled it from the ‘I’ castle, and set it fully on the side of the other person. He urged that we so efface self that we care for the other person for His sake alone and not for any ulterior purpose. We cross over the chasm and become the other person’s possession. One way of knowing whether our love is totally disinterested is to compare it with the love we have for those who are dead. Here is absolutely no possibility of requital, return of friendship, pleasure, or utility. When love persists even without a return of love, then is the affection pure. Nature bids us be mindful of others; Christ bids us to put love where we do not find it, and thus will we find everyone lovable.
"The love called agape is sacrificial love. Here is an example of how it was practiced. The wife of a friend of mine was one night called downstairs. Her husband was talking to a Nazi. They were Jews who became Christians, Lutherans. And the husband said to the Nazi, ‘How many Jews have you killed in the last six weeks?’
‘About 25,000,’ he replied.
‘In what places?’ He mentioned the name of cities. ‘In this particular village, how many Jews did you kill?’
‘I killed all the Jews,’ he replied.
‘Do you feel any remorse?’
‘No.’
‘Do you ever think of asking God for pardon?’
‘There isn’t any such thing in all the world as forgiveness. There isn’t any such thing as God.’
My friend said: ‘Let us see. My wife is asleep upstairs. She has not heard this conversation. I shall call her down.’ She dressed and came down and he said: ‘Sabina, this is the man who killed your father and your mother and your three brothers and two sisters.’
She looked at him and then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him and said: ‘God forgives you. I forgive you.’ And the Nazi threw himself on his knees before the husband and asked him to pray to God for forgiveness. This was the divine forgiving love."
(Life is Worth Living & Through the Year With Fulton Sheen)
Prayer for Peace (St Ephraim the Syrian c.306AD)
Almighty God and Creator, You are the Father of all people on earth. I beseech You to guide all the nations and their leaders in the ways of justice and peace. Protect us from the evils of injustice, prejudice, exploitation, conflict and war. Help us to put away mistrust, bitterness and hatred. Teach us to cease the storing and using of implements of war. Lead us to find peace, respect and freedom. Unite us in the making and sharing of tools of peace against ignorance, poverty, disease and oppression. Grant that we may grow in harmony and friendship as brothers and sisters created in Your image, to Your honour and praise. Amen. 💐💖🙏
Prepare for Lent
Lent is the perfect time to build virtuous habits. In this short time before Ash Wednesday on 5 March give some thought as to how you can fully utilise the Lenten season to nourish your spiritual growth.
There are three holy practices all Catholics are called to embrace during the penitential season. These are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Take a moment to reflect on what you can do. Set goals for prayer, spiritual reading, almsgiving, abstinence, and fasting (being sure to consider your health needs). Go to confession. Attend an extra Mass. Consider volunteering some of your time to help the parish or aid a local charity. And remember, in whatever you do, do it for the love of God.