Gospel Commentary Lk 6:27-38
The Gospel this Sunday gives us one of the most popular lines of
Scripture in the modern world: “Stop judging.” It has become commonplace in our
daily living and culture. When we examine the common perception of this
teaching, we find that it generally means something like: “Leave everyone
alone, do not tell them how to live their lives, and always help them to do
what they want to do.”
This does not much resemble the vision Jesus gives us. While the
common understanding of “stop judging” asks very little of us, the way of life
Jesus describes requires almost everything. Not only are we to refrain from
judging our neighbors, but we are to give our best, that is — our love — to our
very enemies. The teachings that precede and accompany “stop judging” demand
not that we leave others alone, but precisely that we touch their lives with
mercy.
Jesus does not want to free us from one another, but rather to
reconcile and save us together.
These demands can seem frightening and unjust at first. How can I
forgive those who have truly done me wrong? If I forgive them, does that mean I
look weak? Does that mean I have let someone off the hook, or that I’ll never
find justice? Framed by these questions, forgiveness can seem nearly
impossible. Though Jesus is certainly patient with us, and will continue to
love us even before we find the strength to forgive, yet he does insist we do
this most difficult thing.
So how do we find the necessary strength?
The strength to forgive comes from two places.
First, we take strength from the fact that our mercy is an image
of the Father’s mercy, who “himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
The Father already has forgiven us so much through baptism and confession, and
even when we do not recognize or appreciate his goodness, he still provides
opportunities to return to him. Our mercy to others is simply an act of
thanksgiving for the mercy we have received.
Second, we take strength from the example of one who lived a life
of mercy, Jesus himself. Jesus never calls us to do something that he himself
will not do, and in his Passion, he gives us a portrait of this teaching in
action. If anyone ever had the right to demand justice and refuse mercy,
certainly it would be the Lord, who was betrayed and abandoned by his friends,
and left open to exposure, false accusation, ridicule, torture, and murder.
Yet, through his whole suffering, we hear him say, “Father forgive them, they
know not what they do.”
When he confronts the apostles who ran from his side and left him
for dead, he does not accuse them or scream at them, but rather says, “Peace be
with you.”
Jesus forgives not as a sign of weakness, but precisely as a sign
of strength. He is perfectly grounded in
the Father’s love for him, and so he is not afraid to lose out by forgiving his
betrayers and enemies. He knows in his human soul that the Father cares for him
totally, and will vindicate him. The Father also loves us perfectly, and no
matter how many injustices arise here, in time he will set every one of them
right, rewarding and healing the good, while punishing the wicked. If we remain
close to the Father, learning to trust in his unshakable love, we too can
forgive as an act of charity, which is stronger than all sin and pain.
Fr. Rampino is parochial vicar of Blessed Sacrament
Church in Alexandria.