Good News Reflection
Tuesday the 5th Day in the Octave of Christmas
December 29, 2009
Today's Saint: Thomas Becket
Pray for politicians:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/ThomasBecket.htm
Today's Readings:
1 John 2:3-11
Ps 96:1-3, 5-6
Luke 2:22-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/122909.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_12_29.mp3
Justice or love?
In today's Gospel passage, the parents of baby Jesus are told that their little child will become the downfall and the rise of many, that he'll be a sign that the world will contradict, and that, because of this, the thoughts of many would be exposed in the light of truth. In other words, through the conflict stirred up by the life of Jesus, good and evil will become clearly defined.
What Jesus defined by way of teaching and example was a radical truth that exposes evil even when it tries to disguise itself as something good. For example, evil in disguise says: "Love others based on how good they are to you. Do only what feels right to you."
But Jesus says: "Love even your enemies! Love the child you want to abort. Love the person you divorced. Love the sinners who deserve capital punishment. Love your lover so much that you join God in the Sacrament of Marriage rather than cohabitating or living in a merely civil-law marriage. Love your spouse so much that you unite with God in creating new life or by getting involved in ministry together." And so on.
Love is the bottom line, the big line, the only line. We are to love others to the Nth degree, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it seems unfair and unjust. Love them so radically that the world opposes you for it. Jesus' message of unconditional, radical love was the sign that people opposed. They opposed him all the way to the cross.
His message of love exposed the thoughts of many hearts. No longer can we hide our hatred and unforgiveness, pretending goodness behind the mask of politeness. In theOld Testament, if you did evil to me, the Law gave me permission to do the same evil back to you. I did not have to deal with any unforgiveness in my heart. But Jesus took that away in one simple message: "When someone does you wrong, do good in return." And when we don't return good for evil, our unforgiveness for the evil-doer is plainly obvious in our behaviors, because we seem to be very unlike Christ.
That's why today's first reading tells us that if we claim to be living in the light of Christ while hating our brother, we're really in darkness. We might pretend to be following Jesus when our lives contradict his teachings, but the contradiction reveals the truth about us. On the other hand, if we do as he says, the love of God becomes perfect (i.e., full or complete) in us. And we greatly benefit from that!
Why is it so important to God that we love even those who don't deserve it? Is it because he cares about them or pities them more than he cares about us? Of course not! It's we who benefit most when we let go of unforgiveness and self-centered decisions. However, we forget about these benefits whenever we focus on the hurts that were inflicted upon us and whenever we remember only the reasons why fair is fair and why we must be treated fairly or else.
First among the benefits is inner peace, because the evil-doer no longer has control of our emotions. What other benefits can you name? Spend the day noticing them! I'm not going to do all the work for you.
© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
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