In today’s Gospel Jesus refers to his Father as ‘Lord of heaven and earth’. Jesus establishes his father as Creator and ruler of heaven and earth to put everything into perspective. God’s love is revealed to the lowly ones because the rich and powerful are convinced of their self-righteous positions and unable to acknowledge God’s love and mercy for themselves and others.
They like to dictate to those who are below them how to live and worship but bend the rules to suit themselves. Jesus spoke out about these actions in the Pharisees throughout his ministry.
Father Rolheiser, retired president of Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio Texas, helps put this into perspective when he wrote:
“… it wasn’t their vices that Jesus was referring to, but their virtues.
What was the virtue of the scribes and pharisees? In fact, they had a pretty high standard. The ten commandments, strict justice in all things, compassion for the poor, and the practice of hospitality, these constituted their ideal for virtuous living. What’s wrong with that? What’s required beyond these?
This is definitely a different view of the Pharisees. Father Ron continued:
“Simply put, if I’m living the virtue of the scribes and pharisees, I react this way: if you come to me and say, “I like you! You’re a wonderful person,” my response naturally will be in kind: “I like you too! Obviously you’re a wonderful person!” What I’m doing is simply feeding your own good energy back to you. But that has a nasty underside: If you come to me and say, “I hate you! You’re a charlatan and a hypocrite,” my response will also be in kind: “I hate you too! Clearly you’re a very petty person!” This is ultimately what “an eye for an eye” morality, strict justice, comes down to. We end up feeding back the other’s energy, good or bad, and replicating the other’s virtue, good or bad. That’s the natural way, but it’s not the Christian way.
It’s precisely here where Jesus’ invites us “beyond,” beyond natural reaction, beyond instinct, beyond giving back in kind, beyond legal rights, beyond strict justice, beyond the need to be right, beyond even the ten commandments, beyond the virtue of the scribes and pharisees.”
Father Ron helps us to understand that Jesus is calling us to a higher standard than living by the rules and only doing things so we can receive favors in return.
Father Rolheiser asked a series of questions that get to the heart of the Gospel:
Indeed the litmus-test for Christian orthodoxy is not the creed (Can you believe this set of truths?) but this particular challenge from Jesus: can you love an enemy? Can you fail to give back in kind? Can you move beyond your natural reactions and transform the energy that enters you from others, so as to not give back bitterness for bitterness, harsh words for harsh words, curse for curse, hatred for hatred, murder for murder? Can you rise above your sense of being wronged? Can you renounce your need to be right? Can you move beyond the itch to always have what’s due you? Can you forgive, even when every feeling inside of you rebels at its unfairness? Can you take in bitterness, curses, hatred, and murder itself, and give back graciousness, blessing, love, understanding, and forgiveness? That’s the root invitation inside of Christianity and it’s only when we do this that we move beyond “an eye for an eye.”
These questions are the Gospel that Jesus preached in his ministry. The leaders of the day were so engrossed with making sure that everyone else was obeying the rules that they failed to live God’s love and mercy for all. The truth and wisdom was hidden from them due to their blindly enforcing the rules.
We live in a world that is self-centered and only seeks immediate gratification. Power over and control of others as we saw during the pandemic satisfies the ego, but it is the same sin that Jesus decried among the Pharisees.
We live in a nation that worships the idols of ideologies. These are the idols of “Transgender Rights”, “Gay Rights” and “Women’s Health Care or Abortion” in an attempt to be something other than what God made us to be. We are longing for something we are not. We are searching for happiness trying to find it in everything but God. We are trying to be what we are not and are unable to realize that the Lord of Heaven and Earth is who we desire.
Our leaders in Congress and our President proudly proclaim that they are Catholic and yet defy Jesus’ and the Church’s teachings. The truth and wisdom of the Lord of Heaven and Earth is hidden from them because they are seeking the self-gratification of the praise of those around them instead of God’s will. They have led us on a worship of the idols of ideologies that are as sinful as the molten and wooden idols the Children of Israel worship in the Old Testament.
The world has become so blinded by it’s worship of self and “me” that they boldly demand that everyone agrees with their position. It’s easy for us to criticize our leaders while at the same time quietly believing what they proclaim ourselves.
The Gospel that Jesus taught was to love God our Father with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. And yes, that means even the person who is our enemy. The questions that Father Rolheiser asks are pertinent to us. Are we willing to take these to heart and seek God before anything else?
Are we willing to live the truth and wisdom of the Lord of heaven and earth? In today’s world it truly means taking up our cross and following Jesus. Speaking out against the evils of these ideologies makes one a target for the extremists who believe in them. This is evident in the attacks on Catholic Churches and individuals.
These attacks are increasing and becoming more violent as time goes on. It may mean that Catholics could be martyred for their faith, for their belief in the Lord of heaven and earth.
If so, “Am I willing to defend my faith even though I could possibly die for my faith in Christ?”
