March 16, 2019
Saturday, 1st Week of Lent
1st Reading: Dt 26:16-19
Gospel: Mt 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust.
“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? For your part you shall be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Janusism is a form of word play that uses phonetics to create a humorous word. An example given by Wikipedia is BOREneo, from the word Borneo. A similar play on the word “Christian” creates not just a humorous word but a concept worth pondering upon. Without “Christ” from “Christian” I am nothing (“IAN”).
We are nothing without God, and we are nothing before God. Nevertheless, love takes us to higher planes, high enough to be pleasing to God’s eyes. We stand to gain when we love. From the practical side, consider how beneficial it is to reconcile with our enemies on earth before they become our roommates in heaven. The problem with harboring hatred towards our neighbor is that our God is a forgiving one. Thus it is not a remote possibility that these enemies get to heaven even ahead of us. Would heaven still be heaven for us in the company of people who irritate us? Our disposition towards others will not change when we meet them after death because feelings do not die. If the presence of some people disturbs us in this lifetime, the presence of these same people in the next life will torture us to no end.
In any case, if we truly belong to God’s family, we do not need practical reasons to love. We just love because such is the nature we inherit from our Father. A story is told of a man who tried to save a scorpion from drowning. Of course the scorpion bit him. “Why did you do it when you knew that scorpions bite?” a friend asked. The man replied: “I know that the nature of the scorpion is to bite. But it is also my nature to love.”
Love that emanates from one’s nature determines the way he behaves. He whose love remains on the lips, down hypocrisy’s slippery slopes he easily slips. Do nothing but say love, love, love, … and you sound like saying blah, blah, blah. Now that’s another example of Janusism not given by Wikipedia! —(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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