Monday, June 19, 2017
11th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading:
2 Cor 6:1-10
Gospel:
Matthew 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 tell you this: do not oppose evil with evil; if someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other. If someone sues you in court for your shirt, give your coat as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give when asked and do not turn your back on anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel reading is part of Jesus’ discourse on some six required Christian conduct under different provisions of law that Jesus wanted to expound and deepen. He couches his discourse in the following format: “You have heard that it was said… but now I tell you…” The first part of the format is a quote from the Law of Moses; the second part is Jesus’ teaching about the quoted provision.
The commandment quoted in today’s Gospel is from Leviticus 24:20: “Limb for limb, eye for eye, and tooth for tooth! The same injury that a man gives another shall be inflicted on him in return”. The purpose of Moses in crafting this law was to moderate revenge. Still, Jesus wants to revise it. He says: “Do not oppose evil with evil.”
Jesus said: “If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other”. There is insult implied here. To receive a slap at the right cheek could only mean that the slapper using his right hand hits the person with the back of his hand, not with his palm which is used for caressing loved ones. For Jesus, when spirituality is deep, no insult can provoke a follower. Did Jesus turn the other cheek when slapped by Pilate’s soldier? No. Instead he raised a protest, saying: “If I have done nothing wrong, why did you slap me?” Not fighting evil with evil does not mean we do not fight evil at all. It simply means fighting evil by going the extra mile.
The “extra mile” principle has a Roman history. Because Roman soldiers in Palestine had the right under the law to exact from the Jews one mile of service, such as when they needed human logistics to carry military provisions, citizens planted a marker one mile away from their homes to mark where their obligation would end. Jesus said, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” The one mile service was for the satisfaction of the Roman law. The other mile was for the satisfaction of the law of love Jesus was introducing. To fight evil, we should go the extra mile.
Is this asking too much from us? In light of his calling towards deeper spirituality this is reasonable enough. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.
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