Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 365
Reading 1
1 Kings 21:1-16
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel
next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer
Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him:
“I will not give you my ancestral heritage.”
Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.
His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
“Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”
He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite
and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or,
if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’
But he refused to let me have his vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him,
“A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up.
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and,
having sealed them with his seal,
sent them to the elders and to the nobles
who lived in the same city with Naboth.
This is what she wrote in the letters:
“Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Next, get two scoundrels to face him
and accuse him of having cursed God and king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.”
His fellow citizens—the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city—
did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing,
through the letters she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation,
“Naboth has cursed God and king.”
And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
that Naboth had been stoned to death.
When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death,
she said to Ahab,
“Go on, take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 5:2-3ab, 4b-6a, 6b-7
R. (2b) Lord, listen to my groaning.
Hearken to my words, O LORD,
attend to my sighing.
Heed my call for help,
my king and my God!
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
You hate all evildoers.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
Alleluia
Psalm 119:105
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 5:38-42
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
A New Depth of Mercy
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” Matthew 5:41–42
As the faith of Israel developed over the centuries, prior to the coming of Christ, there were various stages of advancement in morality. Prior to the establishment of moral laws in the Old Testament, it was common for families to inflict severe vengeance upon other families when harm was done to them. This caused ongoing violence and feuds. But advancements were made when the law of retaliation was established which said, “When a man causes a disfigurement in his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a man, he shall be disfigured” (Leviticus 24:19–20). This was a new form of justice that forbade the vengeance from being more severe than the crime that was retaliated against. At the time, this helped end ongoing family feuds that continually escalated.
It is this law of retaliation that Jesus addresses in our Gospel today. The new and much higher form of morality that Jesus taught called His disciples to “offer no resistance to one who is evil” and to turn the other cheek when evil was done to them. Though strict justice requires satisfaction for sin, Jesus’ new teaching was that mercy pays every debt. First, His mercy bestowed upon us, for the forgiveness of our sins, pays the debt of our sins when we truly repent and change. But if we desire our debts to God for our sins to be forgiven and repaid, then we must do the same to others, holding nothing against them.
But Jesus goes even further. In the passage quoted above, Jesus exhorts His disciples to a new and radical form of charity and generosity. This new moral code was how the children of the Kingdom of God were now called to act. It was not enough to only forgive and to forget the debt one owes you because of their sin. Mercy now requires us to “Give to the one who asks” and to walk “two miles” with one who only asks you to walk one mile with them. In other words, Christian charity far exceeds every concept of strict justice and even goes beyond basic forgiveness. This was certainly a new and radical teaching from our Lord.
Think about this new moral law in your own life. What level of “justice” do you most commonly live by? When someone wrongs you, do you live like those prior to the Old Testament laws by seeking to get back at them to an even greater degree than the harm done to you? Do you live by the law that seeks the equal justice of an eye for an eye? Do you seek to forgive and offer mercy as a payment for the debt another has incurred by the sin they have committed against you? Or, ideally, do you strive to go even beyond the act of forgiveness and bestow mercy in a new and generous, superabundant way? This last level of love is difficult to obtain and live, but it is the way our Lord treats us and it is the way that He calls us to treat others.
Reflect, today, upon any hurt you may currently be struggling with. And consider the way in which you have been dealing with that hurt. As you seek to understand this new law of love and mercy given by our Lord, pray to Him that He will give you the grace you need to give to others the same level of mercy that God gives to you.
Reflection 2
One Bread, One Body
NOT FOR SALE
“ ‘The Lord forbid,’ Naboth answered him, ‘that I should give you my ancestral heritage.’ ” —1 Kings 21:3
It was unthinkable for Naboth to give up his ancestral heritage (see Nm 36:7). The land upon which his garden lay belonged to his tribe, and would pass on to his children. Naboth could not sell his vineyard according to the law of Moses (see Lv 25:23).
An Israelite delighted in his heritage (see Jer 3:19). The Promised Land was not for sale, just like Esau’s birthright should not have been eligible for sale to Jacob (Gn 25:31-33). Naboth was correct in not selling his ancestral heritage to the king. Ahab was not a holy, law-abiding king.
We are the Lord’s heritage. Additionally, the Lord has blessed us with a spiritual heritage, an inheritance of His fatherly kingdom. This heritage is precious, holy, and glorious. Often we are tempted to sell our heritage. A person is pressured to have sex outside of marriage, to sell their holy body. A person is tempted to defile their body, their heritage, by taking drugs, alcohol, or caving in to ungodly peer pressure. A person steals or cheats and treats the heritage as a child of God as something “pointless” (Gal 2:20).
Our spiritual heritage is not for sale. Naboth stood firm in the law of the Lord. May we do the same when tempted to abandon our spiritual heritage.
Prayer: Father, I trust in Your providence. Help me hold fast to righteousness.
Promise: “To You I pray, O Lord, at dawn You hear my voice.” —Ps 5:3-4
Praise: Even though she was constrained by being homebound, Isabel used her situation as an opportunity to intercede for many.
Reflection 3
By Fr. Martin Hogan
There is a very strong contrast between this morning’s first reading and gospel reading. In the first reading, the queen of Israel, who was a pagan, arranged for one of her hard working and decent subjects to be killed so that her husband could take possession of his land. Here was a glaring example of the irresponsible misuse of power. She responded to goodness with evil. In the gospel reading Jesus calls on his disciples not to repay evil with evil, with to respond to evil with goodness. St Paul says something similar in his letter to the Romans, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. The worst instinct in human nature is to overcome good with evil, which is what we find Jezebel doing in the first reading. The best instinct of human nature is to overcome evil with good. This in fact could be termed the divine instinct, God’s instinct. It was the way of Jesus. He lived and died to overcome evil with good. It is not easy to remain good in the face of evil, to be loving in the face of hatred, to be faithful in the face of unfaithfulness, to remain just in the face of injustice done to us, to be peacemakers in the face of violence done to us. We cannot live in this way drawing on our own strength and resources alone. We need God’s strength, God’s resources, God’s Spirit, because such a way of life is the fruit of God’s Spirit at work within us.
Prayers
My generous Lord, You offer Your mercy in superabundance. You not only forgive when we repent, You also restore us to far greater heights of holiness than we could ever deserve. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to offer this same level of mercy and love to those who have sinned against me. I forgive all who have hurt me. Please help me to also love them with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You.
O merciful God, fill our hearts, we pray, with the graces of your Holy Spirit; with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. Teach us to love those who hate us; to pray for those who despitefully use us; that we may be the children of your love, our Father, who makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. In adversity grant us grace to be patient; in prosperity keep us humble; may we guard the door of our lips; may we lightly esteem the pleasures of this world, and thirst after heavenly things; through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Prayer of Anselm, 1033-1109 AD)
Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
Reflection 168: Evoking the Mercy of God for Others
There is one thing, and one thing only, that has the power to free sinners from the fires of hell. That one thing is Mercy. God offers His Mercy freely and in abundance, but He has also chosen to offer His Mercy in response to our prayers when they are prayed with the utmost faith and childlike confidence. Jesus cannot refuse a heart that is pure and is filled with love for sinners. Your heart must become this way. You must strive to love sinners with such a burning love that the Lord is “obliged” to answer your request for Mercy. He obliges Himself out of love in response to the love you have in your heart (See Diary #873).
Do you realize that you have a certain “power” over the Mercy of God? This is only so because the Lord wills it. He has willed to respond to the love you have in your own heart with an outpouring of His Mercy upon those whom you love. Your love, when pure and unwavering, becomes a door through which the Heart of Christ pours forth His grace. Reflect upon your love for sinners and place that love before the Lord as your powerful prayer. He will see your love and respond with abundant generosity.
Lord, I love You and I love sinners. Help me to love all people more deeply and to offer that love to You as my pure prayer. May the love in my heart be the cause of Your own outpouring of grace and an instrument of Your Divine Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.
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