Monday, June 10, 2013
10th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 2 Cor 1:1-7
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
“The Beatitudes” (from the Latin word for blessed) shows how God’s justice reverses fortunes to the effect that those who suffer now enjoy prosperity in the next life. This arrangement is a little bit harsh to bad people considering the great disparity between the duration of temporal life and that of eternal life. But the contrary will not be fair also to their victims. God prefers to be fair to those who suffer now.
But while God’s justice supports reversal of fortunes, such should not be sought after in this lifetime. Revenge is not only evil because it goes along the line of the “lex talionis” of the pagan world, but also because it is a direct affront to God to whom the right to punish the wicked belongs. If ever the reversal should happen in this lifetime it should be upon God’s initiative. “Vengeance is mine”, says the Lord.
But granting without admitting that revenge can be justified on the ground that it does God a favor by sparing him the hassle of exacting justice from evil people, how much can we really get even with a persecutor? The exaction of justice is better left to the vengeance of God, for when the hand of God’s justice strikes, the repercussions can be scary.
For the consolation of persecuted ones, nature is capable of striking back at evil people. Under the natural law of comeuppance, a bad person suffers the results of his evil acts. Reversal of fortunes therefore can already happen in this lifetime. When this happens, pay tribute to the justice of God but never nurture a vengeful heart. Otherwise you will have already pre-empted the reversal of fortunes and can expect nothing in the life to come. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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