RECONCILIATION, NOT RETALIATION
INTRODUCTORY RITES
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We cannot gather as usual for the Eucharist. But we are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: Revenge, getting even, paying back… these are the usual ways of our world. Today’s readings challenge us to be makers of peace by forgiving hurt, and so breaking the vicious circle of evil.
It is difficult not to take revenge against those who have hurt us. We pray for the grace that we may reconcile not retaliate.
Penitential Rite
L: For the times we have been vengeful, we ask the Lord to forgive us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you call us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you forgave those who put you to death:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you invite us to be compassionate in imitation of our heavenly Father:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: Heavenly Father,
you challenge us to renounce violence
and to forsake revenge.
Teach us to recognise as your children
even our enemies and persecutors
and to love them without measure or discrimination.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
Psalm Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13
Response The Lord is kind and merciful.
Reading 2 1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
Gospel Matthew 5:38-48
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are among the disciples when Jesus challenges them to offer no resistance to one who is evil, to turn the other cheek when someone strikes them, to go the extra mile, to love their enemies. What are your thoughts and feelings when you hear these phrases?
Sunday Snippets
If there were one crime in human history that most agree cannot be forgiven, it would have to be the Holocaust. Some survivors think otherwise. Eva Kor is one of them. Her parents and two older sisters were killed at Birkenau; with her twin Miriam, she was part of the infamous “Holocaust Twin Experiments” at Auschwitz. As a result of her ordeals at Auschwitz, she suffered miscarriages, developed cancer and tuberculosis.
Kor realized that for her to heal, she must forgive the people who harmed her terribly. She writes: “I discovered that I had the power to forgive… it was all mine to use any way I wished.” Not everyone has agreed with her decision to forgive but she felt it was best for her and the right thing to do.
When someone insults/hurts/harms us, our natural inclination is to get even. Eva Kor gave up this natural urge and reached out to those who harmed her.
This what the readings challenge us to do: reconciliation, not retaliation.
In the gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to non-violence and love of enemies. He quotes the eye-for-an-eye rule of the Mosaic law (which was not a law of revenge but was meant to control the instinct for unbridled retaliation) and rules out retaliation and revenge.
However, he is not advocating that we become wimps and doormats! The examples he gives are instances of nonviolent responses to dishonour and oppression… to inspire similar forms of creative nonviolence. Plausible? Yes! Remember Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr did just this.
Why ought we to behave thus?
Because it helps us and them! Because it is the way God acts. We are made in his image and likeness, and we are called to imitate him: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (first reading); and “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (gospel). Jesus does not call his disciples to impossible flawlessness but to imitate God’s inclusive and universal love (some translations use the word “compassionate”).
Further, love (here) is not affection; it is willing the good of the other, praying for our persecutors, and doing good to them.
When someone insults/hurts/harms me, what will I toss back—insults or love, retaliation or reconciliation?
Do I need to be reconciled with someone? If yes, how will I reach out to him/her? How will I strive to imitate God in holiness and compassion?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Does the Lord tell us what holiness is? What does this reading say about being holy? Is holiness related to how we interact with others?
Reading 2: St Paul writes: “the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Do I remember this… when I have important decisions to make; or when I am in trouble; or when good things happen; or not very often?
Gospel: Why would Jesus tell us to “love your enemies?” Do I believe it is possible? Did Jesus tell us about a new revolutionary kind of acting when he showed us how to love our enemies? How far was he willing to go for them with his radical self-emptying?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Sisters and brothers, the Lord tells us to love our enemies so that we can be true children of the Father. We ask for the grace to put aside bad feelings, resentments, and hostilities as we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we may live as God’s holy people, manifesting his love and compassion to all who enter our lives, we pray to the Lord…
R: For the world: that God may heal the wounds and divisions amongst families, co-workers, neighbourhoods, and nations so that we may work together to advance a greater good, we pray to the Lord…
R: For all who are recovering from earthquakes and other disasters: that God may relieve the pain and suffering of the people in Turkey and Syria, and speed the assistance which they need, we pray to the Lord…
R: For our families: that we may not be discouraged by one another’s shortcomings but be attentive to the goodness that is in each and seek peace and happiness together, we pray to the Lord…
R: For healing: that God may heal the sick, give hope to those preparing for surgery, comfort the parents of sick children, and strengthen all who care for the sick, we pray to the Lord…
R: For ourselves: that God may strengthen us when we have been insulted or injured so that we may continue to love and serve without reservation, we pray to the Lord…
L: God our Father, help us to look at one another with your own eyes, that we may accept one another and build up one another in love. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Lord,
you challenge us to
turn the other cheek,
give away our coat,
go two miles instead of one,
love enemies and pray for all those who persecute us.
As you did from your cross, let us wage love, not war.
Help us go way beyond being nonviolent.
Give us your grace and generosity of spirit.
We want to love as you do.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Lord God, loving Father,
share your heart with us,
make us merciful and understanding people,
that we may learn from the way you have treated us
to accept everyone without conditions,
to forgive and forget all hurts,
so that we become more like you.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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