Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 20, 2022
Today’s Readings:
1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23
Ps 103:1-4,8,10,12-13
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Luke 6:27-38
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022022.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2022-02-20
Love and forgiveness are the offensive weapons to destroy the power of the Evil in this World. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught this commandment in words and action. Our life on this Earth is a spiritual Warfare , a fight between good and Evil. All ways of life or Religions teach the same thing but how to fight this War is the point of reflection on today’s readings of the Gospel. All the religions of the World teach us to fight back against the Evil people and defeat them through the Worldly power like mercenaries and spiritual super power like rituals and sacrifices. Lord Jesus Christ gave a new Commandment or strategy to fight back the Evil not to counter attack through Worldly power or spiritual rituals but to make peace ,love and forgive the deadly Evil People who are possessed by the Evil Spirits and do all draconian and demonic works by bringing hatred, war , division, death in the society and nations.
To destroy Evil, love is the only way on this Earth. Jesus used this Weapon of love to destroy the power of Sin in this World by dying on the Cross. Jesus has given us this commandment : love one another as I have loved you. Prayer , Word of God , Sacraments strengthens and directs our Will to form a good Conscience so that our mind and body may express the act of love. This is the reason Jesus Christ witnessed to the Whole World and became a model of love and forgiveness and brought the Messianic age in to this World. The Evil World can tolerate any power of this World but not love and forgiveness, it leaves immediately and can not stand before him because love is God himself. Christianity was accepted by the Nations for only one reason to live in love and forgiveness. Kings and Queens laid their Royal Pride and accepted the position of servant hood for the sake of the Gospel.
We must not be ashamed of love because by belittling our self in front of our enemies brings Victory in the battle against the Evil. The Evil one knows that human beings can not humble down and forgive the enemies but Jesus Christ taught us to forgive unconditionally without expecting anything in return. Jesus tells us in the Gospel if God himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. If Christians are not people of love then they are not Christians at all, the sacrament of Baptism does not make a person the followers of Christ but it is only a mark of external sign which provides grace to save oneself from the grip of Sin. If we do not cooperate this grace ,this mark remains completely external or carnal and it is like a dead faith or a dead seed without any actions or fruits or growth. Our Churches have become these kind of dead Churches where our faith has become a dead faith. Love is the need of the hour where we can nurture our Baptismal faith with love and forgiveness.
Many preachers preach a power Gospel like countering the Evil World by the power of the Word of God and Prayer, the Word of God and Prayer enlighten our mind to love and forgive. All the promises, claims, pledges made on the Word of God or prayer without the commandment of love and forgiveness are one side of faith or a false faith without actions of love. This kind of faith is not from God,the Evil acts like God and makes miracles to attract people to become more powerful in their Worldly life. The end of this kind of faith is Worldly Prosperity and power but there is no perfect love of God.
The people who live in love and forgiveness must go through the life of Beatitudes of Jesus the sermon on the mount. These Be attitudes resemble the Kingdom of God on this Earth. You name the saint, everyone have gone through the life of Be attitudes. Look at the life of Fr.Stan Swamy a living example of our time. If we live a life of truth and witness in love , we will also be persecuted , imprisoned or even killed in our own time. There is no alternative to this my friend , this has happened with our Master, happened with all the people of God.
Christianity is not in ascending order of the Worldly life but in descending order , Today’s Gospel say :Give, and gifts will be given to you;a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,will be poured into your lap.For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. Please do not misunderstand these gifts in to Worldly Prosperity as many Preachers preach but these are the gifts and fruits of the Holy spirit the love of God poured out in to our heart. This is the Victory which we can attain by renouncing the World of Power and living in the power of God the love and forgiveness.
Prayer: Lord enlighten our mind to the true Gospel of love and forgiveness.Amen
PRAYER REFLECTIONS 