Life Is Difficult

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, February 23, 2025:
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

Luke
​6.27-38

Jesus said to his disciples: “I say to you that listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 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. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 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. 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. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 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.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)

So says a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins to his nephew Frodo, and he is absolutely right! Each morning we wake up and begin our day not knowing what we will face. Life is difficult. 

For most of my life I believed that, if I prayed just the right way, I would escape hardship and difficulty. And so, when I experienced hardship and difficulty, I assumed it was because I was praying wrong. When thinking this way, I struggled to believe that God loved me enough to protect me from hardship. I know now that, in reality, God loves me in the midst of difficult and even terrible moments in my life.

God calls me to follow him and to love others as He loves me – and not only those who love me. I am called to love those who might never love me and to forgive those who might choose to hurt me again in the future. My enemy will hate me. Someone may take the thing I actually need and never give it back. And, still, I am called to love. God gives me free will, and yet He calls. 

He also calls me not to judge others, even though they may choose to judge me. When in the Gospel Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged,” He is referring to the Lord’s judgment, not that of other people – because other people will judge us.

How often do we set limits on our love, mercy, kindness and compassion based on the behaviour of others? 

I cannot make my actions contingent on somebody else's response. I am accountable for my actions. Of course, I don’t have to make myself an easy target. I don’t have to open my purse and invite people to rob me, and I don’t have to remain in close contact with a person who cannot love me, but I am called to be radical in the way I love and to show mercy to them. 

If this seems to you too hard, too much for anyone to do, you are right! I cannot do these things without God’s grace. When I am struggling to love my enemy, I need to ask myself how much time I spend praying for them. If I am struggling to let go of hurts and wounds, I need to ask myself if I have laid them before the Lord. If I have laid them before the Lord, have I left them there or have I picked them up again? Like many things in life, practice makes perfect (or near perfect).

Giving our hearts to the Lord doesn’t mean our feelings will change immediately, but living a life of faith is not about our feelings. It’s about following the Lord and relying on His grace.
​

​Sr. Teresa MacDonald

---