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Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

February 23, 2025

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Collect

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, always pondering spiritual things,
we may carry out in both word and deed
that which is pleasing to you.
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. Amen.

First Reading 1 Sm 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23

Having heard that David was hiding out in the desert, 2 Saul rose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, with three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. 7 David and Abishai went into Saul’s army by night; there Saul lay sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand today; now therefore let me pin him to the ground with one stroke of the spear; I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” 12 So David took the spear that was at Saul’s head and the water jar, and they went away. No one saw it, or knew it, nor did anyone awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. 13 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on top of a hill far away, with a great distance between them. 22 David called aloud to Saul, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord rewards everyone for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord gave you into my hand today, but I would not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed. As your life was precious today in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he rescue me from all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

Responsorial Psalm 103:1-2,3-4,8,10,12-13

R/. The Lord is kind and merciful.

Second Reading 1 Cor 15:45-49

It is written: “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first was from the earth, made of dust; the second is from heaven. As was the one of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will also bear the image of the one of heaven. 50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Alleluia Jn 13:34

Gospel Lk 6:27-38

Jesus addressed a great crowd of his disciples, together with the multitude from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon. 27 “I say to you that listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.” 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Catena Nova

You don't love in your enemies what they are, but what you would have them become by your prayers. (St. Augustine of Hippo)

Only one who is sincerely humble, or desires to be, is capable of loving his fellow-Christian. If you are not moved to anger and open dislike of a person, and feel no secret hatred which makes you despise, humiliate, or belittle him, then you are in perfect charity with your fellow-Christian. And if , the more he shames or harms you in word or act, the more pity and compassion you feel towards him, as you would feel towards one who was out of his right mind, then you are in perfect charity. And if you feel that you cannot find it in your heart to hate him, knowing love to be good in itself, but pray for him, help him, and desire his amendment – not only in words as hypocrites can do, but with heartfelt love – then you are in perfect charity with your fellow-Christian. (Walter Hilton )

All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone - for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good. (St. John Vianney)

I reflected on the desolation of poverty, of destitution, of sickness and sin. That I would be free after thirty days meant nothing to me. I would never be free again, never free when I knew that behind bars all over the world there were women and men, young girls and boys, suffering constraint, punishment, isolation and hardship for crimes of which all of us were guilty. . . . Why were prostitutes prosecuted in some cases and in others respected and fawned on? People sold themselves for jobs, for the pay check, and if they only received a high enough price, they were honored. Why were some caught, not others? . . . What was good and evil? . . . Never would I recover from this wound, this ugly knowledge I had gained of what men were capable in their treatment of each other. (Dorothy Day)

In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness… This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud… I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun. Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts, where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all seethemselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. (Thomas Merton)

Be filled with the Spirit of the Beatitudes: joy, simplicity, mercy. Joy begins within. Perfect joy lies in the utter simplicity of peaceful love. In order to shine out, such joy requires no less than your whole being. Perfect joy is self-giving. Whoever knows it seeks neither gratitude nor kindness. It is sheer wonder renewed by the sight of the generosity of the Giver of all gifts -- material and spiritual. It is thankfulness. It is thanksgiving. Simplicity lies in the free joy of those who keep their heart and mind fixed on Divine Light and Love. Those who live in mercy are neither oversensitive nor constantly disappointed. They give themselves simply, forgetting themselves -- joyfully with all their heart; freely, not looking for anything in return. (Br. Roger of Taize’)

We must forgive because God has forgiven us and always forgives us. If we do not forgive completely, we cannot expect to be forgiven completely. However, if our hearts are open to mercy, if we seal forgiveness with a brotherly embrace and secure the bonds of communion, we proclaim to the world that it is possible to overcome evil with good. At times it is easier for us to remember the harm they have done to us and not the good things; to the point that there are people who have this habit and it becomes a sickness. They are “collectors of injustice”: they only remember the bad things done. And this is not a path. We must do the opposite, Jesus says. Remember the good things, and when someone comes with some gossip, and speaks ill of another, say: “Yes, perhaps ... but he has this good quality...”. Turn the discussion around. This is the revolution of mercy. (Pope Francis)

Homily

The letter arrived last September after almost 30 years to the Ursuline community of Cleveland. The 4-page handwritten letter began with the words, "Dear Ursuline Sisters, I hope everything is going good. I write to ask forgiveness for what I did to [59-year old] Sister Joanne Marie [Mascha] in March of 1995 in Pepper Pike, Ohio. I was a scared kid who didn't ask for help. I am truly sorry that I killed her." The letter included wishes he could take it all back and that he would hear from someone. It ended with, "Your friend, Daniel Pitcher."

In November he heard back from the leadership of the community in a letter which read, "Please know that we appreciate your words of regret in the killing of Sister Joanne Marie….She was a loving woman who would never have caused physical harm to another. When you took her life, you deprived our community, her family and God's world of a gentle person who only wanted to spread God's love. Nonetheless, we trust that she would want us to offer forgiveness to you in her name….We accept your apology. We ask you to live out your desire for forgiveness by being a person of goodness, peace and kindness." It closed with a promise of prayers.

Pitcher was spared the death penalty in part because the Ursulines wrote at the time, "We firmly believe that taking a life for a life continues the cycle of violence. We also believe that human life is sacred, even the life of one who has taken the life of another person. Sister Joanne Marie Mascha was a woman of peace who believed in this position. Society has the right to protect itself through legitimate punishment but there are more humane ways of doing that than the death penalty." Pitcher, who was 21 years old at the time of the murder. He was sentenced to 50 years to life and will have a first parole hearing in 5 years. (Cf. Dan Stockman; National Catholic Reporter; February 17, 2025)

Then there's the story of Richard Lee Tabler who killed four people — including two teenage girls. The State of Texas put him to death on February 13. As he was strapped to the death chamber gurney, and while looking at relatives of his victims watching from a window a few feet away, his last words were, "I'm sorry." His spiritual adviser shared a letter from him to the relatives of those he killed in which he wrote,

There is not a day that goes by that I don't regret my actions, I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray; hope and pray that one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me for those actions. No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you. And if you feel that this is what you need to get you closure, I pray it helps you have that closure. I just hope that one day you find that forgiveness to forgive me for taking your loved ones from you. I am deeply sorry. To my mom, my sister, my niece, my lawyers, my supporters, my friends, my family, and everybody I love you. This isn't the end; this is only the beginning…. I thank God for allowing me to seek him out and finding him and show that this isn't about me. We are all here today because of my actions, but in the end, it comes down to God, praising him and giving honor to him. I have accepted Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior years ago, and I just want you guys to know how deeply sorry I am, but I know when this happens, and this goes through it's going to be the end of this life, but it will be the beginning of my ultimate life in heaven…. with that said….I am finished (cf. Kimberlee Speakman; People; February 15, 2025)

Now after hearing these stories, listen again to Jesus: Love your enemies…. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful....Stop condemning and you will not be condemned....Forgive and you will be forgiven (G).

Listen also to Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who writes of someone who has committed a violent crime,

If forgiveness is ever to be realized for him, it is not only the face of his victim which must be ‘returned’ to him, but his own forgotten face: the face of himself as his own victim, scarred and ruined by what he has done. He must see Christ, the saving victim, the merciful judge, not only in the victim whose blood is on his hands but in the self he could and could not be, the self he has decided against….How difficult is it for us to see the face of God as victim in a criminal in prison?….the hopelessness and self-loathing, even the impotent anger of the jailed murderer, all that constitutes him or her a trapped and helpless victim, must speak to us, in however distorted an accent, of the Lamb of God (Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel; 2002).

Listen finally to Paul’s words about the transformation brought about by Jesus in his disciples: Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [Adam], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [Christ] (cf. II).

So however you might assess the two stories I began with — as the new Attorney General plans to rev up the federal death penalty once again after years of moratorium and commutation of sentences by the previous administration — I hope you will agree, when all is said and done, that there’s only one death that brings forgiveness, one death that has brought about justice for the whole human race, one death that pardons all our iniquities, redeems our life from destruction; only one death that brings reconciliation, proving God does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our crimes; only one death that makes true restitution, putting our transgressions as far from us as the east is from the west (cf. RP): namely, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ which we proclaim in this Eucharist, until he comes to judge the living and the dead. Who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.

Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website)

For the Church: that we may be instruments of God’s mercy and compassion by sharing what the forgiveness that we have received with others.

For the grace to forgive: that God will help us to forgive those who have injured us and to pray for them and their needs.

For all who have been our enemies, whether politically, economically, or personally: that we may let go of hurts and grudges, and seek a new understanding of them.

For all who suffer violence on city streets or in their homes: that they may rise above their wounds and be sources of hope and encouragement for others.

For healing of racial and ethnic hatreds: that all people may see the value and dignity of each person as a child of God.

For all who are alienated from the church: that God will heal their hurts and help them to find welcome and acceptance in our communities.

For all who have experienced abuse: that God will heal their memories, their emotions, and their physical wounds so that they may be free to love and share life with others.

For all who are suffering: that God will free those unjustly held, bring justice to the oppressed, hope to those who are grieving, and healing to the sick.

For peace: that God will guide world leaders to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and use their resources to end famine, disease, and oppression.

Compassionate God and Father, you are kind to the ungrateful, merciful even to the wicked. Pour out your love upon us, that with good and generous hearts we may keep from judging others and learn your way of compassion. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)

Offertory Antiphon

Offertory Hymn

Love is His word, Love is His way,
Feasting with all, fasting alone,
Living and dying, rising again
Love only love is His way.

Richer than gold
Is the love of my Lord.
Better than splendor and wealth.

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