Reading 1 1 Kgs 21:1-16
next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer
Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him:
“I will not give you my ancestral heritage.”
Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.
His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
“Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”
He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite
and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or,
if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’
But he refused to let me have his vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him,
“A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up.
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and,
having sealed them with his seal,
sent them to the elders and to the nobles
who lived in the same city with Naboth.
This is what she wrote in the letters:
“Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Next, get two scoundrels to face him
and accuse him of having cursed God and king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.”
His fellow citizens—the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city—
did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing,
through the letters she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation,
“Naboth has cursed God and king.”
And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
that Naboth had been stoned to death.
When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death,
she said to Ahab,
“Go on, take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 5:2-3ab, 4b-6a, 6b-7
Hearken to my words, O LORD,
attend to my sighing.
Heed my call for help,
my king and my God!
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
You hate all evildoers.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
Alleluia Ps 119:105
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mt 5:38-42
Jesus said to his disciples:“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
BETTER THAN VENGEANCE
"What I say to you is: offer no resistance to injury." –Matthew 5:39
To punish and control those who have hurt us, we are inclined to retaliate. We feel that our retaliation will not be effective unless it inflicts worse damages than the original offense. However, this extra damage is unjust. Therefore, those who suffer it feel obligated to hurt us some more to even things up. To stop this escalating violence, the Lord taught us in the old covenant: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Mt 5:38; Lv 24:20).
Jesus realized that, although the Old Testament system had good intentions, it was unworkable in practice. Who decides what is just retaliation? Will both sides agree to this? Jesus has a better way to further justice and deter injustice. Jesus' way is militant and aggressive, but not physically violent. Jesus' way of justice and justification is the way of the cross. He doesn't throw our injustices back at us, but took them on Himself and put them to death with Him on the cross. Jesus gets back at those who hurt Him not by returning evil for evil but good for evil (see Rm 12:20-21). In fact, for every evil act, Jesus responds with multiple good ones. Jesus stops evil by converting the evildoers, not by trying to control them.
Will you accept Jesus' grace to do the humanly impossible? Will you be like Jesus and offer no physically violent resistance to injury? Will you be a Christian or be like most other people?
| PRAYER: | Father, give me the supernatural courage to be non-violently militant. |
| PROMISE: | "At dawn You hear my voice; at dawn I bring my plea expectantly before You." –Ps 5:4 |
| PRAISE: | St. Anthony became a Franciscan because of the witness of the Franciscan martyrs of Morocco. |
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