This time around is the homily for the Eucharistic service at the Life Care Center.
June 16, 2019, Monday.
Check out the link first so the blog makes sense!
This Gospel reading always reminded me of my high school Shop teacher Mr. Bradley, who was also my classroom driver's education instructor. Mr. Bradley would always say “if you are driving down the road at night and the car coming towards you has their headlights on high beam, you don’t turn yours on back at them because then you have TWO blind idiots driving down the road”!
That was an eye for an eye, both drivers can’t see and what good does that do if you crash into each other? It doesn’t do any good at all. The Old Testament commandment of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was to make the punishment match the crime and not exceed it. Back then if somebody stole something from you they could be put to death for that. The penalty was a bit excessive so God, through Moses put an end to that form of extreme punishment.
Then many years later Jesus comes along and takes that one step further and says if anyone presses you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. This “going the extra mile” had a special meaning to the Jews back in Jesus’ time. The law allowed a Roman soldier to force anyone in the empire to carry his equipment for one mile and this law was particularly annoying to the Jews because it would interrupt their day and force them to help the enemy.
Now here is Jesus, the man who is to be their new leader, their new king telling them not only to obey the Roman law they hated but to double it willingly. What kind of leader was he? Well, since we know the rest of the story we know that Jesus wasn’t an earthly leader and savior but a Heavenly one instead. He was trying to get them to think that way as well, to look towards heaven instead of looking towards the earth.
Even today, this is very difficult for us to understand as we live in an earthly body with an earthly brain. We can’t do this on our own, we need help, heavenly help. That’s where the first readings advice comes in handy. “We appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain”. We need the grace of God to use our earthly brains to understand the Heavenly glory that waits for each and every one of us. For now, the first reading continues, “while we are on this earth we must show purity, knowledge, patience, kindness” and for that, we need the Holy Spirit, the power of God given to us here on earth to get us through.
Saint Basil gives us a great summation of this when he said:
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
No comments:
Post a Comment