THE LORD IS COMPASSION AND LOVE

VII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 6:27-38

When Moses asked God: “Please show me your glory.” (Ex 33:18), the “Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord” (Ex 34:5). Then, the Lord proclaimed:

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex 34:6-7)

This is the way God speaks of himself and this proclamation is repeated throughout the Holy Scriptures and we can hear it again in this Sunday’s psalm: 

“The Lord is compassion and love,

  slow to anger and rich in mercy.” (Ps 103)

Many times in the past, even in the recent past, we had a distorted image of God, fabricating an image following our human nature, instead of remaining faithful to God’s revelation. We looked at God as an angry and harsh God always intent on catching us at the slightest fault and then punishing us with all the power of his rage. We lived in fear of God, instead of putting our trust in the Father who loves us with tender love. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote: 

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Ro 8:15).

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus orders us to imitate God’s mercifulness: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Lk 6:36).

Time and again, we are intent on revenge, allowing ourselves to be guided by our instincts, which lead us to violence, transforming us into the most vicious animal. Whenever we go through this path, we become an icon of Satan, the father of all evil. The only way to establish peace on earth is to follow the Prince of peace and become true images of God.

Revenge is seen in many cultures as an action to defend our honour. When someone is murdered, the relatives must exact vengeance upon the enemy who destroyed an innocent life. Then, it is no surprise that there are plenty of books telling stories built on revenge and plenty of videos on taking vengeance upon somebody because of past actions that injured the dignity of someone. Many wars started in that way, thus inflicting suffering and death on many who had very little to do with the original cause. This revenge is motivated by the duty to reestablish justice. However, justice cannot be enacted through violence. Instead of justice, we initiate a cycle of violence that will be difficult to stop. And with violence, we will bring all kinds of injustice and oppression. A man’s strength of character is shown in the control of his instincts and in the effort to become a true image of God: 

“Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.” (Lk 4:27)