Our Lady of the Shebele
Catholic Parish of Gode
Holy Mass: -Sundays: 10am -Weekday 6:30am
Confessions & Emergency Calls: any time day or night
Parish Chapel: always open; all are welcome!
VII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A – ”God is love, he who remains in his love, remains in God”
Lev 19: 1-2, 17-18 Be holy, for I the Lord, your God, am holy.
Ps 102: 1-13 The Lord is kind and merciful.
1Cor 3: 16-23 All belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Mt 5: 38-48 Love your enemies.
I.THE WORD OF GOD
Even in the old law, as we read in the book of
Leviticus, God´s holiness was reflected in his
people, in their relationships with their neighbors,
which should not be of hatred and rancor or
revenge, but of love.
In the Sermon of the Mount, which we have read
these past Sundays, Jesus offers us the ultimate
expression of the true meaning of love. A love that
should reach out to «the enemies, …those who
hate you, …those who persecute and slander
you». Christ refuses a utilitarian concept of love;
he juxtaposes to this idea the condition of the
children of God, for these, not only have they not
answered evil with evil, but must positively do
good to those who have wronged them. To allow
evil to triumph unquestioned, is not Christian.
Christians cannot be condescending with evil or
renounce the struggle for justice; on the contrary,
we should promote it by all Evangelical means
possible and even surpass justice by the charity of
Christ. The love of Christ´s disciple makes no
distinction and knows no barriers or frontiers. A
Christian´s love is a reflection of the love of God.
The expressions used by Jesus: «and you shall
hate your enemy» is not found in the Old
Testament, but in the Rabbis teaching. In the
Semitic tradition to hate is “to not love”, “to love
less” or to “postpone” love. With the use of this
verb, the Rabbis seemed to imply you do not have
to love your enemy. The word enemy, used as
opposed to brother, refers to a personal enemy; in
the broader sense makes reference to “the enemy
of the community”, in other words, “those who
persecute believers”. It is for this reason that Jesus
says: «love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you». The Lord is not asking of us to
Parish Priest: Father Christopher Hartley
Catholic Mission P.O.BOX 345, GODE, (Ethiopia)
hartley.christopher@gmail.com
Tel: +251 25 776 0670
feel affection or tenderness (the Greek verb
phileîte) to those who do us evil, as it could
violate our own psychology, what Jesus is asking
us is to love them with “the love that springs
fourth from pure charity” (he uses the Greek verb
agapatê); with the benevolence of love, which is
not founded on natural feelings «do not pagans do
the same?» but surpassing our natural instinct of
rejection, by means of our faith in God, who loves
us, in spite of our own sinfulness and
communicates to us, as the children of God that
we are, the capacity to love as he loves when we
place no obstacles in the way. Christian love is not
based on natural feelings but on the will to love,
illuminated by faith, strengthened by the virtue of
charity and fortified by hope. Christian love is
God´s gift to his children. Only then will we be
holy as our heavenly Father is holy.
II. THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH (CCC)
1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we
love God above all things for his own sake, and
our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
1823 Jesus makes charity the new
commandment.96 By loving his own "to the end,"97
he makes manifest the Father's love which he
receives. By loving one another, the disciples
imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves
receive. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has
loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love."
And again: "This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you."98
1824 Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law,
charity keeps the commandments of God and his
Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love."99
1825 Christ died out of love for us, while we were
still "enemies."100 The Lord asks us to love as he
does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the
neighbor of those farthest away, and to love
children and the poor as Christ himself.101
The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable
depiction of charity: "charity is patient and kind,
charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not
arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its
own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does
not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things."102
1826 "If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle,
"I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or
even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain
nothing."103 Charity is superior to all the virtues. It
is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith,
hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest
of these is charity."104
1827 The practice of all the virtues is animated
and inspired by charity, which "binds everything
together in perfect harmony";105 it is the form of
the virtues; it articulates and orders them among
themselves; it is the source and the goal of their
Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies
our human ability to love, and raises it to the
supernatural perfection of divine love.
III CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY
Charity is a right attitude of mind which prefers
nothing to the knowledge of God. If a man
possesses any strong attachment to the things of
this earth, he cannot possess true charity. For
anyone who really loves God prefers to know and
experience God rather than his creatures. The
whole set and longing of his mind is ever directed
toward him. For God is far superior to all his
creation, since everything which exists has been
made by God and for him. And so, in deserting
God, who is beyond compare, for the inferior
works of creation, a man shows that he values
God, the author of creation, less than creation
itself. The Lord himself reminds us: Whoever
loves me will keep my commandments. And this is
my commandment: that you love one another. So
the man who does not love his neighbour does not
obey God’s command. But one who does not obey
his command cannot love God. A man is blessed
if he can love all men equally. Moreover, if he
truly loves God, he must love his neighbour
absolutely. Such a man cannot hoard his wealth.
Rather, like God himself, he generously gives
from his own resources to each man according to
his needs. Since he imitates God’s generosity, the
only distinction he draws is the person’s need. He
does not distinguish between a good man and a
bad one, a just man and one who is unjust. Yet his
own goodness of will makes him prefer the man
who strives after virtue to the one who is
depraved. A charitable mind is not displayed
simply in giving money; it is manifested still more
by personal service as well as by the
communication of God’s word to others: In fact, if
a man’s service toward his brothers is genuine and
if he really renounces worldly concerns, he is
freed from selfish desires. For he now shares in
God’s own knowledge and love. Since he does
possess God’s love, he does not experience
weariness as he follows the Lord his God. Rather,
following the prophet Jeremiah, he withstands
every type of reproach and hardship without even
harbouring an evil thought toward any man. For
Jeremiah warns us: Do not say: “We are the
Lord’s temple.” Neither should you say: “Faith
alone in our Lord Jesus Christ can save me.” St
Maximus the Confessor.
IV. CHRISTIAN PRAYER
.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal
life
.
V. A BIT OF THIS & A BIT OF THAT
-We ask your prayers for our three
catechumens who will be Baptized during the
Easter Vigil. First Baptisms in the history of
this mission!!
Thank you all for coming! And let us do great
things for our beloved people of Gode, in the
name of Our Lord throughout the coming week!