Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time – Luke 6:20-26
The message in today’s Gospel is one that most of us do not want to hear. The first words in this passage are: Jesus says, “To you I say ‘love your enemies.’ However, Jesus does not stop there. He also tells the crowds that they should “bless the people who wronged them and pray for the ones who treated them badly.” Jesus goes even further and tells them they should “offer the other cheek.” The people must have thought that Jesus was crazy! How many of us would even think of doing that? Talk about being countercultural! Little did they know that in the future this is exactly how Jesus would treat the individuals who would betray, condemn and crucify him!
For us, this may seem impossible to do at this time in our lives. The wound may be too fresh, too deep, too devastating. And it truly may be impossible for us at this time. However, what we can do is begin to pray for the grace to be more open and forgiving of the individual who has hurt us. Or if we are not quite ready for this step, we can pray for the desire or will to forgive this individual. This is a powerful first step! Can we take just one step to forgiveness?
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