Letter

My Dear Spiritual Sons and Daughters in the Lord,

The Gospel reading at Mass this Sunday is taken from the portion of the Gospel of Matthew that is called “The Sermon on the Mount.” They are words which Jesus speaks to his followers to teach them how God wants them to live their lives.

Jesus’ teaching gives us the right mindset we need to approach all of the parts of our lives with the mindset of God himself. Jesus goes on at great length in The Sermon on the Mount. The portion which we hear this Sunday concerns how we should respond to those who make life difficult for us. Keep in mind how we make life difficult for God.

Tisi, "Virgin"

Some people make life hard for us. How should we deal with them? Should we respond by making life hard for them in return? That may seem only fair. But is their a still more excellent way? Indeed, there is a still more excellent way. And this is the way that Christ expects us to follow. And if we want to enjoy heaven, then we had better follow it. It is the way of Jesus Christ himself. It is the way which reflects the love of God.

In order, first, for any of Jesus’ encouragements to make sense it is important for us to remember that God in his great goodness wants to rescue us from being lost forever. And more than that, he wants to make all of us his sons and daughters. God doesn’t have to do this. God would have been perfectly justified allowing us to remain in our condition of having lost the blessed eternity forfeited by our first parents. But God is so good. He shows us how we can regain that happiness by his own great act of forgiving us who had so dreadfully wronged him.

As a condition of our newfound sonship, God expects us to return good for evil when others offend us. This expectation is reasonable because we are showing how similar we are to our Savior. When Jesus says, “Offer no resistance to one who is evil,” “Give to the one who asks of you,“ and “Love your enemies,” He is really asking us to treat each other the way God has treated us. He is calling us to resemble by the perfection of our love for others, by our mercifulness and by the holiness of our lives the perfection, mercy and holiness of God.

We must have this mindset if we want to be called Christians. Let’s keep listening to Jesus’ words and acting on them.

Sincerely Your Spiritual Father in Christ,

Fr. Drew