Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

Retaliation and love of enemies, these teachings are very much significant today as we live in a world, full of barbaric and gruesome violence.

First, we turn to listen to Jesus' teaching about retaliation. He teaches in a very methodical way. First, He presents the thesis - what the Law of Moses has taught "You have heard that it was said, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" Then He makes the anti-thesis - what He teaches of His own divine authority: "But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil." He does not stop at that point. But He illustrates His statement, the antithesis, with enough practical examples.

For a proper understanding of the Law of Christ, the New Moses, seated in the rabbinic posture of teaching ob a mountain, the biblical place of divine revelation; we ought to read through Exodus 21 and Leviticus 24 "Whoever takes the life of any human being shall be put to death ... A life for a life! Anyone who inflicts an injury on his neighbor shall receive the same in return. Limb for limb, eye for eye, tooth for tooth!"

These two speak of Lex Talionis, the law of tit for tat. What was the purpose of this Law, though it looks rigorous? It was: to enforce justice, to stamp out violence, to prevent greater penalties than would be just / to moderate vengeance; the punishment should not exceed the injury done.

But Jesus, the One greater than Moses, forbids even this proportionate retaliation and exhorts us, His disciples, to cede our legal rights for retaliation. He seems to say, "Do not resist evil with evil". He,then, exemplifies His new teaching: "When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well."

We must resist evil with what is good, done in full liberty. Hence we may hand over the cloak with tunic; give to the one who asks and lend to the one who borrows. We may also go the extra mile when pressed into service for one mile only.

Now we turn to Jesus to listen to His teaching on love of enemies. Here He exhorts: that we must love not only our neighbor but our enemy and persecutor also = 'Do bot render evil but love for evil', that we should surpass the usual standards of conduct (to love those who love and to greet those who greet like tax collectors and pagans do), that we must imitate the example of God the Father who grants the gifts of sun and rain to the good as well as the bad and be perfect like Him.

What do these teachings point to? Jesus points to an ideal. The ideal should not be forgotten or lost sight of, even if we fall short of it, or even if we cannot easily attain it.

Is this for individual behaviour only? For us Christians, this is not only for individual behaviour/spirituality but also for social behaviour/communitarian spirituality.

How did Jesus act according to what He preached? We can collect some data from the New Testament and try to make a synthesis: Jesus did have enemies (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) - those who did not agree with Him; those who refused to agree with Him, perhaps to keep their positions. Jesus did dialogue with them. He accepted invitations to dine with the Pharisees, who disagreed with Him and who questioned Him and His actions at the meal. It is possible that the meal was an occasion to clarify matters and some enemies were converted to Him (Matthew the tax collector, Zacchaeus the chief tax collector). It is equally possible that some hardened their hearts against Jesus, those who refused to agree with Him. Those, who were hardened against Him, put Him to death (His enemies retaliated Him). In Luke, He forgave His enemies on the cross - even if He had the possibility to retaliate them: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do". When Jesus was put to death by His enemies and He did not retaliate at the end, He was merely practising what He preached.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

Retaliation and love of enemies, these teachings are very much significant today as we live in a world, full of barbaric and gruesome violence.

First, we turn to listen to Jesus' teaching about retaliation. He teaches in a very methodical way. First, He presents the thesis - what the Law of Moses has taught "You have heard that it was said, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" Then He makes the anti-thesis - what He teaches of His own divine authority: "But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil." He does not stop at that point. But He illustrates His statement, the antithesis, with enough practical examples.

For a proper understanding of the Law of Christ, the New Moses, seated in the rabbinic posture of teaching ob a mountain, the biblical place of divine revelation; we ought to read through Exodus 21 and Leviticus 24 "Whoever takes the life of any human being shall be put to death ... A life for a life! Anyone who inflicts an injury on his neighbor shall receive the same in return. Limb for limb, eye for eye, tooth for tooth!"

These two speak of Lex Talionis, the law of tit for tat. What was the purpose of this Law, though it looks rigorous? It was: to enforce justice, to stamp out violence, to prevent greater penalties than would be just / to moderate vengeance; the punishment should not exceed the injury done.

But Jesus, the One greater than Moses, forbids even this proportionate retaliation and exhorts us, His disciples, to cede our legal rights for retaliation. He seems to say, "Do not resist evil with evil". He,then, exemplifies His new teaching: "When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well."

We must resist evil with what is good, done in full liberty. Hence we may hand over the cloak with tunic; give to the one who asks and lend to the one who borrows. We may also go the extra mile when pressed into service for one mile only.

Now we turn to Jesus to listen to His teaching on love of enemies. Here He exhorts: that we must love not only our neighbor but our enemy and persecutor also = 'Do bot render evil but love for evil', that we should surpass the usual standards of conduct (to love those who love and to greet those who greet like tax collectors and pagans do), that we must imitate the example of God the Father who grants the gifts of sun and rain to the good as well as the bad and be perfect like Him.

What do these teachings point to? Jesus points to an ideal. The ideal should not be forgotten or lost sight of, even if we fall short of it, or even if we cannot easily attain it.

Is this for individual behaviour only? For us Christians, this is not only for individual behaviour/spirituality but also for social behaviour/communitarian spirituality.

How did Jesus act according to what He preached? We can collect some data from the New Testament and try to make a synthesis: Jesus did have enemies (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) - those who did not agree with Him; those who refused to agree with Him, perhaps to keep their positions. Jesus did dialogue with them. He accepted invitations to dine with the Pharisees, who disagreed with Him and who questioned Him and His actions at the meal. It is possible that the meal was an occasion to clarify matters and some enemies were converted to Him (Matthew the tax collector, Zacchaeus the chief tax collector). It is equally possible that some hardened their hearts against Jesus, those who refused to agree with Him. Those, who were hardened against Him, put Him to death (His enemies retaliated Him). In Luke, He forgave His enemies on the cross - even if He had the possibility to retaliate them: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do". When Jesus was put to death by His enemies and He did not retaliate at the end, He was merely practising what He preached.

Cosmic Eucharist 2

Emergence - the power of creativity, how the Universe transcends itself

The Eucharist invites us to transcend the limited horizons of the world of human concerns to journey into another reality. Is there a space in our understanding of Eucharist for the crucified planet, the annihilated species, the vanishing habitats, the polluted rivers? These are also the real limbs of the mangled body of the Cosmic Christ. Are our concepts of Eucharist large enough to encompass the whole of the Cosmos, the sacrament of the Cosmic Christ? How does this powerfully symbolic act of Jesus, release our own creativity to break out of old moulds, to look for wider horizons, to be open to the surprises of divine creativity being revealed to us through the discoveries of the New Story. The emergent Christian will not be satisfied with a pared down version of the Cosmic Christ that speaks only to the concerns of humans.

Homeostasis - the power of maintaining achievement, what the Universe values

Homeostasis and Eucharist

Bread symbolizes that which sustains life. Eucharist bread is about that which sustains all of life - particularly life that is threatened. We tend to limit the meaning of Eucharist to the spiritual welfare of humans. This "spiritualizing" of Eucharist robs it of is "earthy" significance. When we eat the bread of Eucharist, we are contracting in to the Jesus vision to enhance all of life, especially the lives of those who are weak and vulnerable and threatened. The Eucharistic Jesus is the sacrament of the Cosmic Christ. The Cosmic Christ has a saving message for all of creation. The whole of creation is groaning out in expectation of fulfillment.

Cataclysm - the power of destruction, living in Universe where things break down

Cataclysm and Eucharist

The Eucharist celebrates chaos and brokenness. The broken body of Jesus lies at the heart of the mystery of the Eucharist. It was the chaos of Good Friday that made possible the ressurection of Easter Sunday. The Eucharist enables us to enter into the chaos of life with hope, confidence and expectancy. Our brokenness is not an obstacle but an opportunity - the authentic pathway into a real Eucharidtic Rebirth. It is the chaos of our lives that we bring to Eucharist so that the power of the Resurrection may be manifest in us, and the broken parts of our world made whole.

In our world, we have witnessed the chaos of terrible wars and human atrocities, of social and natural disasters, of religious bigotry, of child-sexual abuse in our Church, of political corruption in our country, of the desecration of the planet itself. The Eucharist empowers us to venture forth into this world where chaos abounds with hope and confidence. The story of the Universe itself, and the story of the Universe reflected in the Story of the Jesus tells us that in this chaos there is something new and wonderful struggling to be born. The Eucharist assures us that we can be mid wives of a new and better future here on Earth for the Planet and for all the creatures that live on it.

Eucharistic Dream

The Eucharist symbolizes and celebrates the dream of Jesus for a better world. It is the pledge of fulfillment for those who commit themselves to follow the dream. It is a constant reminder that chaos brings with it the potential for new and undreamt of possibilities. At the heart of the Jesus story is a message of hope - the whole of creation is on a journey of fulfillment to an ultimated destiny which Teilhard called the Omega point - the point towards which the Cosmic Christ is drawing all of creation. Life here on Earth is a hope-filled, momentous evolutionary journey into Divine Mystery.

"Over every living thing which is to spring up, to grow, to flower, to ripen during this day say again the words: This is my Body. And overy every death-force which waits in readiness to corrode, to wither, to cut down, speak your commanding words which express the supreme mystery of faith: This is my Blood". Teilhard de Chardin.

Synergy - the power of working together, mutually enhancing relationships

Synergy and Eucharist

For the early Christians, the Eucharist, the sacramental presence among them of the Risen Lord, was the source of their unity and cohesion. What outraged Paul was the manner in which this central meaning of the Eucharist was being desecrated by petty divisions abd rivalries. It was the synergy among the early disciples that enabled the new Jesus movement to survive and prosper. The Eucharist is a celebration of the coming together of the gifts for the whole community for the good of all creation. It is difficult to see how the synergy of the faithful can be harnessed when only the gifts of some of the faithful are recognized.

Transmutation - the power to change the self, disciplines and constraints

Transmutation from Eucharist to Cosmic Eucharist

How do we approach Eucharist as a force for transmutation and change in our time, a time when the issues are not just human issues, but issues for the whole Earth community of life? A Cosmic Eucharist is the sacramental presence of the Cosmic Christ. The Risen Jesus is not the historical Jesus who was shaped by a world view that reflected the world of the Mediterranian Basin in the first century. A cosmic vision of Eucharist encourages us to articulate for to-day the meaning of the Jesus Story in the context of the world we live in - withering world - whose ecological difficulties have been caused by the inordinate power of humans to manipulate the web of life. A Cosmic Eucharist invites us to interpret "This is my Body" in a way that embraces of whole Universe in its vastness and complexity.

Transnutation in essence is about the nature and dynamic of change. Believing in the Eucharist as a manifestation of the Power of Transmutation invites us to become that power for change in our world. When the Power of the Transmutation is alive in us, we become part of the dynamic of the Universe to enhance the quality of life for all creatures. Looked at through the lens of the Jesus Story, we allow Jesus' passion for justice, equality, forgiveness, life enhancing relationships, concern for the weak and lowly to challenge and change us.

Thoughts of Cosmic Eucharist

"Since once again Lord, I have neither bread, nor wine, nor altar, I will raise myself beyond these symbols, up to the pure majesty of the real itself; I will make the whole Earth my altar and on it will offer you all the labours and suffering of the world." Teilhard De Chardin.

Educating

"There is a lot of talk about abortion," commented Nora.

"I think it is better to educate the young people when they became teenagers so that they don't have unprotected sex leading to Unplanned Pregnancies. Then there is no need to have an abortion. You must teach girls and boys that they must respect each other's bodies even if they are in a relationship. It is natural to be attracted to the opposite sex but you must tell a boy or girl that if they find themselves alone and even if they hug and kiss, they must practice self control and not go the whole way," explained Haren who was a doctor.

"You are right. I know couples who even get married without knowing how to enjoy married life and conjugal relationship, which is God's gift to bring forth children when they are good and ready. God made man and woman to enjoy sex as it is part of  Creation. There are natural ways to not have children until both man and woman are ready to sacrifice for twenty years to raise a child," said Nora.

"Yes, there are many cases where the woman wanted to have a child but the man wanted to get ahead in his career or go abroad. I think older and experienced people must share frankly with the young about the difficulties and shared responsibilities of parenting so that they don't just get together and make a child. Research has shown that many married women go in for abortions as they know the difficulties of raising a child. There is no need for the trauma of abortion if they are careful," said Haren.

"Let us pray to God to show us the way to lead a happy life," concluded Nora.

Women bring harmony that makes the world beautiful

"Without women, there is no harmony in the world." That was the message of Pope Francis has said in a recently delivered homily at Holy Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.

At the centre of his reflection was creation of woman, as told in Genesis. Men and women are not equal; the one is not superior to the other. But it is the woman, and not the man, who brings that harmony which makes the world a beautiful place.

Pope Francis was continuing his reflections on creation, the subject of the Readings for the past few days, taken from the Book of Genesis. The Lord had formed every sort of animal, but the man did not find a companion in any of them; he was alone. Then the Lord took a rib and created woman, who the man recognized as "flesh of his flesh." "But before seeing her," the Pope said, "the man dreamed of her... In order to understand a woman, it is necessary first to dream of her." Without women, there is no harmony.

"Often when we speak about women," the Pope said, we think of them in a 'function alist'manner. Instead, we should see women as bearers of a richness that men do not possess: women bring harmony to creation:  "When women are not there, harmony is missing. We might say: But this is a society with a strong masculine attitude, and this is the case, no? The woman is missing. 'Yes,yes: the woman is there to wash the dishes, to do things...' No,no,no! The woman is there to bring harmony. They are not equal; one is not superior to the other: no. It's just that the man does not bring harmony. It's her. It is she who brings that harmony that teaches us to caress, to love with tenderness; and who makes the world a beautiful place."

Exploiting people is a crime, but exploiting women is worse: it destroys harmony. In his homily, the Pope considered three moments in Creation: The solitude of the man, the dream and the destiny of both the man and the woman: to be "one flesh." The Holy Father gave a concrete example: Once, during an audience, while he greeted the people, he asked a couple who were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, "Which of you has had the most patience?"

"And they looked at me, they looked me in the eyes - I'll never forget those eyes, eh? - then they turned and they told me, both together: 'We are in love.' After 60 years, this means 'one flesh.' And this is what the woman brings: the capacity to love one another. Harmony for the world. Often we hear: 'No, it is necessary in this society, in this institution, that here there should be a woman because she does this, she does these things.' No,no,no,no! Functionality is not the purpose of women. It is true that women should do things, to do things as we all do. The purpose of women is to make harmony, and without women there is no harmony in the world. Exploiting persons is a crime of 'lèse-humanité': it's true. But exploiting a woman is even more serious: it is destroying the harmony that God has chosen to give to the world. It is to destroy."

Exploiting a woman, then, is not only a crime: it amounts to "destroying harmony", the Pope said, referring also to the day's Gospel story of the Syrophoenician woman. God has created woman so that we would all have a mother.

Pope Francis concluded his reflection with a personal note:

This is the great gift of God: He has given us woman. And in the Gospel, we have heard what a woman is capable of, eh? She is courageous, that one, eh? She went forward with courage. But there is more, so much more. A woman is harmony, is poetry, is beauty. Without her the world would not be so beautiful, it would not be harmonious. And I like to think - but this is a personal thing - that God created women so that we would all have a mother.

Vatican Radio

The Good Shepherd

Jesus is our Shepherd
And He leads us with His mighty hands
He knows us and calls us by name
For we are His sinful lambs

Always wiping every tear and fear
Jesus seeks us when we go astray
His love leads us with untold love
For He folds us in His bosom everyday

Jesus left His heavenly home above
Among the thousand forms of love
He came upon earth with sinful men to dwell
And appeared to man as Emmanuel

Jesus is my God, Shepherd and friend
He is my Physician and my King
He is my Lord, my Way and my End
Accept these praises Jesus to Thee I bring

Money would not save you by EWTN

Pope Francis warned of the "hidden victims" of capitalism, the idolatry of money and false philantrophy, telling a gathering of enterpreneurs they must act to change a system that creates victims, not simply help people after the fact.

"An enterpreneur who is only a Good Samaritan does half of his duty: He takes care of today's victims, but does not curtail those of tomorrow," he told a meeting of the Focolare Movement's Economy of Communion project.

"The first gift of the enterpreneur is of his or her own person: Your money, although important is too little" he said. "Money does not save if it is not accompanied by the gift of the person."

About 1.100 collaborators of the Economy and Communion project from 49 countries attended the audience with the Pope. Pope Francis reflected on the positive nature of this work, which he suggested provided a path to remember the poor. He pointed ti airlines that plant trees to compensate for the environmental damage of aircraft and gambling companies that pay to care for gambling addicts.

"And the day that the weapons industry finances hospitals to care for the children mutilated by their bombs, the system will have reached its pinnacle," the Pope said.

The Pope recommended the practice of the "economy of communion" that care for the victims of the economic system and builds a system where there are fewer victims. When anyone who encounters a victim must take care of him or her, it is important to act before the crime or tragedy "by battling the frameworks of sin that produce robbers and victims."

Pope Francis also had hard words for the idolatry of money.

"The 'goddess of fortune' is increasingly the new divinity of a certain finance and of the whole system of gambling which is destroying millions of the world's families and which you rightly oppose," he said. "This idolatrous worship is a surrogate for eternal life. Individual products get old and wear out, but if I have money or credit I can immediately buy others, deluding myself of conquering death."

"We cannot understand the new Kingdom offered by Jesus if we do not free ourselves of idols, of which money is one of the most powerful,"the Pope continues.

He praised the Economy and Communion project for its decision to pool profits. This is a way to tell money "you are not God."

While there are new efforts to combat poverty and aid the poor, the Pope warned that it can never be said enough that capitalism continues to produce discarded people whom it would then like to care for.

The Pontiff cited the parable of the Prodigal Son. One must imitate the father of the parable and wait for those who have done wrong to return to show them mercy. One must not be impeded by the meritocracy Pope Francis said, is invoked by the parable's older son and by many who deny mercy in the name of merit.

"An enterpreneur of communion is called to do everything possible so that even those who do wrong and leave home can hope for work and for dignified earnings, and not wind up eating with the swine," he said. "No son, no man, not even the most rebellious, deserves acorns."

"Every time people, peoples and even the Church have thought of saving the world in numbers, they have produced power structures, forgetting the poor," the Pope said. "We save our economy by being simply salt and leaven: A difficult job, because everything deteriorates with the passing of time."

He stressed the role of reciprocity in life. Communion is both the sharing and the multiplying of goods.

"By introducing into the economy the good seed of communion, you have begun a profound change in the way of seeing and living business," Pope Francis told the gathering.