MONDAY of 11th WEEK, ordinary time, uneven numbered year
“If anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well.And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him.”says Jesus to us in the Gospel.
Jesus leads us even further on In Love’s ways ; for him it’s not a matter of an ideology, but rather the reality of Love. Human nature’s enemy is the adversary and the other person there before me remains a brother for whom I wish good. We need to be ready to forgive and to remain trusting. Some day we can all come to admit that we had made a mistake. Such is the mental attitude Jesus asks of us.Indeed , there is a time for everything in Jesus’ life - at one point He will say to the soldier ’Why did you hit me?’ but he still keeps on travelling upon the road of Love, in the total gift of himself. We too wish to follow Jesus in His passion. He went to the end of his strength, of what he was capable of doing. He went right to the end of the gift of himself. Likewise, God welcomes what we give to him in Jesus and he has him enter into a marvelous fecundity…. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation we do not know what we are committing ourselves to when we follow Our Lord Jesus. Mary could not have though for one moment that her son would end his life like a cursed man, hanging on the cross. The recital of the Annunciation said the contrary : ’He will be great, he will reign for ever more!
“You have heard how it was said : Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you : offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well.”
Jesus had the experience of how the Father enveloped him with his tenderness when he came out of the waters in Jordan : ’You are my beloved Son.’ Jesus loves us, he lets each one thoughtfully find the best solution adapted to our capacities
and circumstances, in a very practical way. Jesus practices non-violence, he says’ If they chase you from a town flee into another.“However he didn’t hesitate to go to Jerusalem where he knew he would be arrested. He doesn’t defend himself in the Garden of Gethsemane yet when he is slapped he protests strongly. If he refuses to reply to the questions of Caius, Herod and Pilate, questions full of traps, he knows how to forgive Peter who had denied him, and the torturers who didn’t’ know what they were doing. By our life we present ourselves as real ministers of God. Our perseverance in distress, difficulties and anguish. This comes about in the power of the Infinite Love of God. Prayer and offering of ourselves when we encounter the demands of our ’own self will in the gift of ourselves, but we ask that God does his Will in us for God is present when we are in difficulty. By prayer we obtain from God the best he desires for us. God asks us to work for his works by offering ourselves up to Him, so that he brings about his work of Love through us.”If someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away."
Jesus knows how to renounce his right when it is a question of his Mission or the dignity of the Temple he doesn’t hesitate to intervene and very strongly so.He bluntly insults the hypocrites and those who have had their fill.And it is with a whip that he chases people who turn the hose o prayer into a market, a cavern of thieves. Jesus will tell us : ’I leave you my Peace Not as the world gives do I give Peace.’ This peace comes and changes our hearts completely for Jesus alone can bring about peace in our hearts that are so complex and with its unsolvable questions. We say once again Mary’s confidence:’ How can this come about?’ And we have the experience that God never abandons us. We have put our trust in Him, He came to our help and he knows how to do things much better than we could have ever expected.