Go for the Gold

Homily for February 19, 2017 (7th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48

In the lobby of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City is a large mosaic inspired by an illustration by the American master Norman Rockwell.  It features 65 people of every race and religion, young and old in various gestures of prayer and contemplation.  In the foreground of the work are the words:  “DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.”  Rockwell simply and very appropriately entitled it The Golden Rule.  He said that he hoped it would support the UN’s peacekeeping and humanitarian mission. He added that he chose the words and the title because so many of the world’s religions feature a version of the Golden Rule.

Jesus mentions the Golden Rule in the gospels (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31).  Elsewhere (Mark 12:31, Matthew 22:39) he echoes what we heard in our First Reading from the Torah (Leviticus 19:18) in pronouncing what might be called the Platinum Rule:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s the theme of this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal to help support the many ministries and services of the Archdiocese of Chicago.  In John 15:12 Jesus gives us what we can call the Diamond Rule:  “Love one another as I love you.”  It was that love that led him to the cross.

St. John famously said, “God is love” (1 John 4:16b).  In today’s Responsorial Psalm (103), we see what that love looks like:  the Lord is kind, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in kindness.  Our God is one who pardons our sins, heals our ills, redeems our lives, and crowns us with kindness and compassion.  How do we respond to such grace?

As he continues his Sermon on the Mount in today’s gospel passage, Jesus tells us. Let’s be honest, it’s a pretty radical departure from what the world teaches us, much less the Law of Moses:  turn the other cheek; give someone the shirt off your back; go the extra mile; love your enemies.  We’ve heard and said these things so often that they’ve almost become clichés, but when Jesus’ disciples heard them for the first time they understood right away how demanding and even scandalous they could be:

• When the Law gave them the right to seek “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” turning the other cheek when struck seemed like weakness at best and at worst a great injustice.
• When the Law allowed one to demand a man’s tunic as collateral for a loan, giving up his cloak as well seemed crazy, not to mention embarrassing.
• When the Roman law allowed a soldier to press someone into service to carry a load for a mile, carrying it another mile seemed like just giving into “the man” and accepting oppression. 
• When the Law urged them to love their neighbors and hate their enemies, loving those enemies and praying for their persecutors seemed almost suicidal.

It all seemed—and still seems—like foolishness and almost impossible.  How can we even hope to be perfect as the “heavenly Father is perfect?”  Alone it is impossible, but with God’s grace and working together the impossible becomes real for those who believe that they are, in Paul’s words, God’s temple and the dwelling place of the Spirit.  So let’s “go for the gold”—in love. +