Letting go of grudges and bitterness

Reflection

Today’s gospel continues the challenge from last week to go deeper into the heart, the seat of hidden thoughts and desires. The call to conversion is a call to give just as we have received: we are loved and so should love; we are forgiven and so should forgive; we are consoled and so should console and so forth. Why is that? Because the love that we have received becomes truly “me” only when I pass it on. Only then have I experienced the message of the prophet: I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezek 36:26)

Reading

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103 [102]; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48

Meditation (Matthew 5:38-48)

Jesus tells us to act out of love and says that acting out of love is better than acting out of revenge. What does your experience tell you?

Perhaps you have at times hit back in revenge when you have been hurt or offended. What effect did this have you, on others, and on your relationship with them? Contrast this with the times when you resisted the urge to retaliate. What effect did this have on you, on others, and on your relationship with them at the time, and in the long-term?

From other passages in the gospels, it is clear that Jesus did not mean that we should ignore injustices and never make a stand against others. What lessons have you learned in life on when and how to make a stand? What wisdom would you share with others from your experience?