Jesus Christ is God, and since God has made us in his image and likeness, we are to reflect the life of Jesus by following him with the help of his divine grace and the teachings and prayers of Holy Mother church.
In today’s Gospel of Luke, 6:27-38, Jesus proclaims to his disciples, “… love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
This can be very difficult for us because of the effects of original sin. Even though original sin was washed from our soul at our Christian Baptism, we still have the effects of original sin which means that our free will is weak, our intellect is dark, and we struggle with internal disorder called “concupiscence” – we are inclined to sin if we do not have the virtues to overcome the temptation to sin.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) de-fines concupiscence: Human appetites or desires which re-main disordered due to the temporal consequences of original sin, which remain even after Baptism, and which produce an inclination to sin. (For further study see, CCC: 1264, 1426, 2515)
We know how radical Jesus’ mission is to love the weak and the vulnerable, and seek justice for them, but we are also called to love those who hate us, and who mistreat the vulnerable. So, does Jesus’ radical love mean that we just let people walk over us, or the most vulnerable? Or does true love include the fullness of the Gospel which includes the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy, simultaneously?
The Corporal Works of Mercy include giving drink to the thirsty, but if a man at a bar asks you to buy him a drink when he is already intoxicated, doing so would not be true love. For true love and true mercy is wanting the best for the person, not just giving them what they want.
That is why we need to know and employ the Spiritual Works of Mercy so to help us have true love for others. If a person at a bar insists that, since you are a Christian, you must buy him a drink, it is important to employ reason and one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy. Perhaps the Spiritual Work of Mercy, “Admonish the sinner” comes to mind, but would that be effective?
I think another Spiritual Work of Mercy is more appropriate in this case. I have had moments as a priest and as a seminarian (mostly as a college seminarian!) when I employed the Spiritual Work of Mercy “Console the afflicted”, as well as another Spiritual Work of Mercy, “Counsel the doubtful” at some bars since so many people there are looking for true meaning in life and are seeking to deal with pain in their life.
Jesus also proclaims in today’s Gospel that we should “stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.” But if I had not judged someone to be in need of “consolation” or “counsel” I would never have interacted with them when they were truly in need. If I were to condemn the person as “hopeless,” I would have walked away and not interacted with them. In the Biblical context, Jesus uses the words do not “judge”
and “condemn” as meaning that we should not judge rashly, nor condemn a person by con-sidering them hopeless for healing and salvation, a definitive judgment which is left for God alone.
In one case after interacting with a per-son at a bar, the person admitted losing sight of the path to healthy relationships, especially with God, and thus was jeopardizing their ultimate gift of happiness – salvation.
So does Jesus want me to “stop judging” all together, or does he want me to judge rightly and help them to stop sinning by seeking virtue; for sin always leads to further distance from our true selves, true love, our true God, whereas virtue brings us closer to God – true and lasting happiness.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church helps us to understand the true context of these words. We read in the CCC paragraph # 2475, under the section, Offenses Against Truth: Christ’s disciples have “put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” By “putting away falsehood,” they are to “put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander.”
#2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty: - of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; - of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them, - of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
#2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way: Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter under stands it badly, let the former correct him with love…
Fortunately, in today’s Gospel Jesus reaffirms another essential Christian action, “Forgive and you will be forgiven.” Before sleep, or before Holy Communion, it is a joy to review with the Lord Jesus one’s day or week, examine one’s conscience to see all the good that God is doing through us, but also to see our venial sins and then, with Jesus, pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven…. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…” Amen.
Peace in Christ, Fr. Thomas McCabe
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