Sunday the 23rd of February 2025 - The Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23/ Ps 103(102)/ 1 Corinthians 15:45-49/ Luke 6:27-38

Anthony Walker was an 18-year-old student who lived with his parents, two sisters and his brother, in Huyton, Liverpool. On the night of the 29th of July 2005, he was murdered in an unprovoked attack by two young men. Anthony’s mother, Gee, a committed Christian, explained to the press and a surprised world that she forgave her son’s killers, saying "I have to forgive them. I can't feel anger and hatred, because that is what killed my son, I forgive them. I don’t hate them. Hate is what killed my son". This was a remarkable response to a hideous and pointless crime. A response that many of us, especially those who are parents, would find very hard to replicate.

Gee Walker was right, hate is a destructive emotion and will eat into our very being if it is allowed to. The only remedy to hate is love, love that can counterbalance the weight of hate. To forgive those who do harm to us can be very hard, but this is exactly what God calls us to do as Christians. We must follow the example set by Jesus as he cried from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We are called to forgive our enemies, even those who do not even seek our forgiveness. When we pray the Lord’s prayer, the prayer given to us by Jesus, we make our request for forgiveness for our faults conditional on us forgiving others as we say, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’. Do we understand what we are saying with these words? Do we put them into practice? It is very human to harbour grudges, to pick and choose who we will forgive or not. Jesus taught us a radical way of living, to love and forgive even our most ardent enemies, those who do not seek forgiveness from us or do not even acknowledge that they should do so. It is easier to forgive those we love but quite a different matter to forgive those who continue to be our enemies.

The God of the Old Testament can appear to be a God of wrath and anger handing out punishment on humanity who constantly turned against him. The truth is that from the very beginning God had a plan to forgive the entire weight of human sinfulness through the life, suffering and death of Jesus, as foretold in Genesis. The first reading today tells of King Saul who was pursuing David with an army of his best men. It was Saul who was delivered into the hands of David who had every reason and chance to kill him but chose not to. David recognised that even as his enemy Saul was an anointed servant of God and in sparing his life showed the righteousness and faithfulness called for by God.

In the gospel passage Jesus calls us to live a life of merciful love for others just as God our Father shows us unconditional mercy and love. It is a challenging call to love our enemies, to do good to those we feel hate us, to bless people who curse and deride us, to pray for those who abuse us, to put up with those who offer violence to us or steal from us, to act to others always as we would wish them to act towards us regardless of how they may be acting towards us themselves. This is a very challenging way to live but it is the essence of a Christian life, and the example set for us by Jesus. Jesus was the example of the perfect human being, he submitted completely to the will of God his father, he was abused, tortured, and put to death, but even amid this unjustified suffering Jesus called for his Father to forgive it all.

We are called to love our enemies, to do good, to lend without expectation of return, to show mercy, not to judge or condemn others. In this way we will become children of God, emulating his love, mercy, and compassion, so that one day we will enter eternity in the image of Jesus, the man of heaven, rather than the image of Adam, the man of dust.

The psalms are the ancient prayers of the Jewish people, the prayers that Jesus would have prayed in the temple but are still often as relevant to our needs today as they were when they were composed. The psalm chosen for the liturgy today fits very well with the theme of mercy and forgiveness. It starts with a call to bless the Lord and never forget all that comes from Him. It acknowledges the forgiveness that God gives us for all our sins, the healing of all our failings, the redemption from death to eternal life crowned with mercy and compassion. Far from a God of anger and revenge it presents a God of graciousness who is slow to become angry and does not treat us as we deserve to be treated for our sinfulness. We are assured of God’s compassion who treats us as his own children.

The liturgy today gives us the reassurance that no matter what we get wrong, being a loving parent, God will always be there to lavish on us his mercy, compassion and forgiveness. The sobering thought we are left with is the call from Jesus to respond to the love of God our Father in a similar manner to others. This is the great challenge of being a Christian, to give to others the mercy, compassion, and forgiveness that God gives to them as well as he gives it to us. We need to prepare to bear the image of the man of heaven, to be merciful, not to judge others, not to condemn others, but to forgive all as God forgives all.

God Bless, Brendan.