Behold, Now is the Day
Piety
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of
salvation…We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful; as unrecognized and
yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to
death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having
nothing and yet possessing all things. 2 COR 6:2C, 8B-10
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When
someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If
anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as
well. Matthew 5:39-40
Study
Last week, St. Paul referred to us as earthen vessels. Like the chalice or the ciborium, we are a
vessel that awaits being filled…filled with Christ for the mission ahead. We
are fragile and vulnerable yet still are capable of holding onto the light of
Christ within.
Despite holding the light of Christ, now St. Paul remind us that no
matter what “good” we do, society treats us as deceivers. The theme of rejection by the world that we
first encountered in Lent and the Acts of the Apostles during Easter Season
continues as we stretch into every day, old, familiar green ordinary time.
Ordinary people. Ordinary time. Ordinary world. Our extraordinary triune God
makes extraordinary demands upon us.
Matthew reminds us that God calls us to the same kind of extraordinary
service that he invited Jesus to offer. The Old Testament commandment (“An eye
for an eye.”) moderated vengeance. The same injury that one gives is the limit
of the punishment inflicted in return. (Leviticus 24:20) There is a sense of
proportionality in such justice. Society and Mosaic Law at the time insisted
that the punishment must fit the crime. The severity of the sentence should not
exceed the injury done.
Action
Jesus again upsets the world order.
Jesus forbids even this proportionate retaliation. When our enemy slaps
us on one cheek, don’t slap back. Turn
and allow your enemy to hit the other side, too. Through nonviolence, Jesus
teaches us to resist hating and spread love.
Do we think we will have it any easier than the early Christians whom
Paul wrote to in Corinth? After all, this is not the best of times, nor the
worst of times. The time in which we
live is merely “ordinary” time.
Paul and the early Christians did not offer to the Lord one hour on
Sunday. They offered their whole lives
to the Lord and the community. We, on the other hand, are called to keep holy
the Lord’s Day – the entire day, every day.
Sometimes, the rest of that Sabbath day and the week is devoted to
ourselves.
The Lord tells us what will make our time acceptable. We are asked to “bring glad tidings to the
poor,” “to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to
let the oppressed go free.”
How can you make this week “acceptable” to the Lord in your piety,
study, and action? What specific plans
are you making to turn this week into the best of time for the poor, oppressed,
blind and captive?
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