ModeOfLife Become love as God exhorts us, for this is the true starting point for changing your life and the world. For it is love that will bring respect, justice and equity into the world, not our personal opinion of what justice or equity is.
“The Lord said: as you would want others to do to
you, you also do unto others”
Sometimes, dear brothers and sisters, we believe
that the standard Christ gives us in
today’s Gospel passage is not very different to
what was stated in the Old Testament, which
was very much in accordance with human
logic. The Old Testament stated: “whatever you
do not wish, do not do to others” (Tob. 4:15). In
other words, what you do not want others to do
to you, do not do to them.
Yet, the difference between Christ’s words
today and the rule of the Old Testament, is as
wide as earth is from heaven. To avoid doing
the bad things that you would not accept others
doing to you, is not the measure of Christ.
It is not the law of Christ. It is not the love of
Christ. Christ overturns the laws of this
world. He overturns that which is familiar,
customary, established, and sheds light on it
to the point of transforming it. Christ is not
content with the idea of not doing those
things that we do not want others to do to us.
He goes far beyond that:
“Just as you would want others to do to
you, you also do to them likewise”. An astonishing
statement! An unsurpassable standard!
He asks: What do you want others to
do to you? To protect you? To accept you? To believe you?…
Whatever you wish that others would do for you, you also do for them.
But is this easy? Is it easy to satisfy the endless
desires that every human being has?
What is there that we would not want for
ourselves? We would even want others to
make us a king! Why not?
“As you would want others to do to you,
you also do unto others.” He does not give
commands from above, dictatorial commands
‘do this and do that!’ He does not
force you to do this, or not to do that. Nor
does He say to follow “what was said of old”
(cf. Matt. 5:21). What, then, does He ask?
You! You become the measure. You become
the source of truth. And when you
achieve this, you will then surpass that measure,
and you will go beyond the human.
You
will ask to be able to forgive your enemies,
and lend to those from whom you do not expect
anything to be returned. “Lend, hoping
for nothing in return”. If you lend to those
who will pay it back, or if you love those who
love you, or if you do good wherever it will
be recognized, what special grace is that?
“Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as
much back”.
This is the famous so-called ‘law of just returns’.
To do what others do to you. This
form of human rationale was done away
with by Christ. He did away with it on the
basis of love, on the basis of compassion. Be-
cause with normal logic, it would not be possible.
Such truth cannot stem from mere logic
which says: I will only give to you if you give
to me. A trade-off. Logic can only go so far. It
can bear no more.
Yet, the logic which is beyond logic or, if
you like, ‘illogical’, states: forgive your enemies.
And not only forgive, but love your enemies!
If they defame you, or mistreat you,
you do good and speak well in return. And
then you go beyond the human, and proceed
to the divine, in imitating God by grace, because
God is good and merciful. “Be merciful,
just as your Father is merciful”.
Mercy, then! And man is a creature constantly
in need of mercy.
One continually
needs to overlook, and to make concessions,
because people are creatures of much pain,
who often do not know what they themselves
want, or what is in their true interest.
Let us remember the Saints and the Holy
Mother of God, the symbol of obedience. The
symbol of embracing. The symbol of breadth.
There never was, nor will there ever be, a
broader soul, heart, intellect and love, than
the love of the Holy Mother. That is why we
call her ‘Broader than the Heavens’. I call
upon all of you her love and intercessions.
For all our community and all of humankind.
Amen.
