Bless those who Persecute You.

Homily for November 7, 2017.

There is one line in our first reading this morning that I would like us to reflect deeply on. St. Paul says: “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.”

The natural human response to people who bring us pain is to try as much as possible to give them back such pain even in double proportion. The basic human instinct is survival and whatever we consider as a threat to our survival, we fight back.

We live in a world of enemies. Almost everybody has one or two enemies; some of whom were former friends who betrayed us; colleagues at work or in business who engaged us in fierce competition; bosses who made life tough for us and so on and so on.

We have in us a deep seated belief that so long as we are able to fight, defeat and destroy our enemies, we can have peace again. There are people who cannot pray without mentioning the need for God to fight their enemies or for the Holy Ghost Fire to burn those with whom they are currently at loggerheads with.

But then, my dear friends, let us reason with St. Paul. Why does he recommend blessing rather than cursing our enemies? The answer lies in that same passage where he mentions: “Brethren, we though many, are one body in Christ, and individually, members of one another.”

That is to say, we are one! We are all connected. When we fight each other, we basically fight ourselves. Imagine your eye quarrelling with your nose. The eye may succeed in destroying the nose but when the human being cannot breathe anymore as a result, even the eye itself will die.

So, when you throw one stone to a fellow human being, just know that you are also throwing a stone at yourself. This is the reason why even after we have fought back those who offended us, even after we have killed our enemies whether by mouth or by actions, we still find ourselves restless deep within.

We can never find peace by making life difficult for anyone. We humans are so connected on planet earth that whatever we give out, we get back in double proportion. If we give out love, we get it back. If we give out hate and curses, we also get back those same curses. Whatever we wish for others becomes fulfilled in our very lives.

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, teach me the wisdom of love that I may give up my hatred. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 31^st Week in ordinary Time. Bible Study:  Romans 12:5-16 and Luke 14:15-24).