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7^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

甲年，常年期第七主日

Gospel: Mt 5:38-48 (玛5：38-48)

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Homily: A Call to be Perfect

“Lord, I am not worthy,” we repeat this before receiving communion, aware that I know I can’t become bread broken, blood shed without reserve like you for the brethren. I know that I will not have the strength to let myself “be consumed” by them. “I just come to beg your Spirit.” The 1st Reading begins with the invitation from God to his people to “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Honor your father and mother, observe the Sabbath, do not hate your sister/brother, give up resentment and revenge, and “love” your neighbor as yourself (vv. 3, 17-18). “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Prov 25:21) is the highest point where the morals of the Old Testament come.

Although the Israelites were the chosen race of God, in an archaic society where there was no state power capable of maintaining order, people easily resorted to revenge, retaliation without limits. It is to put a stop to such excesses that the Torah had established “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Ex 21:23-25).

Properly understood, it remains valid even today. If practiced, it guarantees fairness in judgments. Jesus aims to go beyond this strict justice and calls to address the problem in another way (vv. 38-42). “You do not have to resist evil!” Rather than doing violence to a brother/sister, you have to be willing to suffer injustice (Mt 5:39). “If someone strikes you on the right cheek” (v. 41), Jesus demands a radically new behavior, “you offer also the other cheek.” The only way to break the cycle of evil, offense-violence, is to forgive.

In Israel, for the poor, a tunic served as a blanket for the night. It is for this the Torah stated that it could not be seized (Ex 22:25-26). Jesus offers an extreme case of injustice: a disciple is deprived of the tunic. Clearly, all the other goods have already been removed. What must be done? Jesus says, be willing to give not just the tunic but also the cloak, the last garment that remains. He is willing to stay naked, like his Master on the cross.

It often happened that the rich and the powerful bullied the poor peasants and forced them to act as guides or to carry loads. We have an example in the passion narrative: Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross of Jesus (Mt 27:31). “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go two.” It is not a rule of wisdom. It does not suggest a strategy to convert the aggressor. He asks the disciple to “Give when asked and do not turn your back on anyone who wants to borrow from you” (v. 42). Do not pretend not to understand, do not make excuses, do not invent non-existent difficulty, do not try to unload the problem on others. If you can do something, just do it.

In the last example Jesus refers to a twofold commandment: “Love your neighbor but hate your enemy” (vv. 43-48). It is the pinnacle of Christian ethics. It is the requirement of the gratuitous and unconditional love that does not expect any return and that, like God’s, reaches even those who do evil.

The availability to give everything, not keeping anything for oneself, to put ourselves totally at the service of people—including the enemy—puts us in the footsteps of Christ and leads to the perfection of the Father who gives his all and does not exclude anyone from his love.

证道：爱的成全，在于爱近人，爱仇人！

 “主，我当不起”，我们会在领圣体前重复这句话，使我们意识到：我明白除非像你一样毫无保留地为教友们付出，就无法成为掰开的饼和倾流的血。我知道，我没有力量让自身被他们所“消耗”。“我唯有前来恳求你的圣神”。第一篇读经以天主对祂子民的请求开始：“你们应该是圣的，因为我，上主，你们的天主是圣的。”孝敬你们的父亲和母亲，遵守安息日，不要憎恨你们的兄弟姐妹，放弃怨恨和报复，要如同爱自己一样“爱”你们的邻人（肋19：3，17-18）。“若仇人饿了，你要给他吃的；若是他渴了，应给他水喝”（箴25：21）是旧约伦理的顶峰。

尽管以色列人是天主特选的民族，但是在一个没有国家权力能够维持秩序的古代社会中，人很容易诉诸于暴力，而且是毫无限制的报复。托拉建立的“以眼还眼，以牙还牙”（出21：23-25），是为了遏制过分的报复行为。

严格地理解，这教导至今仍旧有效。如果付诸实行，可以保证审判的公正。耶稣的目的是超越这严苛的审判，呼吁用其它方式来解决问题（玛5：38-42）。“你们不要抵抗邪恶！”与其向兄弟姐妹施暴，不如甘心承受不公（玛5：39）。“若有人掌击你的右颊”，耶稣要求一个彻底的新作法：“你把另一面也转给他”。破除邪恶和暴力循环的唯一途径，就是去宽恕。

在以色列，为穷人来说，一件束腰外敞被当作夜晚睡觉的毯子。为此，托拉声明：这件外敞不能用作抵押（出22：25-26）。耶稣提出了一个极端不正义的例子：一个门徒被剥去了外敞。很明显，这门徒的其它财富都已经被夺去了。什么是必需要做的呢？耶稣说，要甘心给予的不仅仅是外敞，也还有留下的最后衣服——斗篷。这门徒甘愿裸露的站着，如同他的师傅在十字架上一样。

有钱有势的人通常会欺负穷苦的农民，强迫他们作向导或负重前行。在受难叙述中有个例子：基肋乃人西满被迫背负耶稣的十字架（玛27：31）。“若有人强迫你走一千步，你就同他走两千步。”这不是一个智慧的规则，也不是建议转变挑衅者的策略。耶稣要求门徒：“求你的就给他；愿向你借贷的，你不要拒绝”。不要假装不懂，莫要找借口，也不要编造不存在的困难，更不要把问题抛给别人。如果你能做什么，就去做吧！

在最后的例子中，耶稣提到了一个双重命令：“你应爱你的近人，当爱你的仇人！”（玛5：43-48）这是基督徒伦理的高峰，要求毫无理由和无条件去爱，不期待任何回报，如同天主的爱一样，甚至伸向那些作恶的人。

愿意付出一切，为自己毫无保留，把我们完全投身于服务人们中，包括仇人在内，让我们追随基督的脚步，通向成全的天父——祂付出了自己的一切，从祂的爱中，不排斥任何人。