Love my enemies? Do good to those who hate me? Bless those who curse me and pray for those who have done me wrong? If someone smacks my right check, I have to give my left check for another whack? Are you for real? The world-at-large says something very different: “Revenge is a dish best served cold!” Now that’s more fun—and more like it, right!

But what would Jesus do?

Jesus is asking us to follow the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. How are we to respond with kindness, generosity or forgiveness and mercy to those who spend their time and efforts harming or belittling us? What is the message of today’s readings?

The words of Jesus today are particularly challenging and difficult for us. Although we may be very familiar with these phrases, trying to live them, may feel impossible for most of us, most of the time. Jesus in referring to the law of the Old Testament uses the phrase “but I say to you.” Here we are being called to a new way of living, behaving, responding to our daily, human encounters.

Living this new way of Jesus as outlined in this passage is only possible with God’s help. As mentioned in Matthew 19:26, we are told that for people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. If what Jesus asks seems too much for us, we are beginning to understand that our response will depend not on ourselves alone but on a grace that comes from God. Only by receiving the spirit that Jesus promises will we be able to witness to the love, forgiveness and peace to which Jesus calls us. Do I have the courage and strength to ask God for that Grace? Perhaps it is not so much that I am asked to imitate God’s compassion as to be a channel for it. Let us pray this Lent to begin the process of living life as God calls us to, and we can start in prayer asking for God’s grace to be open to His Grace, in and through our lives.

The Lenten Season begins on March 2nd, and we will have handouts in the Church to both help explain the meaning and purpose of the traditional practices of Lent—fasting, prayer and almsgiving—but also some practical things to do to build the habitus of the Love of God in our lived faith experience. The handout is entitled “My Lenten Tool Box.” Coming soon to a parish near you…

In our parish I have always preached at Lent that we don’t have to “give something up” for Lent, though that is a good way for us to connect our daily lives of plenty to those who go without, but rather we can in a very positive Catholic tradition “add something on” to our daily lives in order to grow our spiritual lives in Lent. The Church asks us to “Go out into the deep water” of faith and we have an abundance of opportunities to do just that here at St. Catherine of Siena Parish. If you haven’t done something in the past to feed the hungry—outside of your own family—then perhaps as a family sign-up to help the Street Sandwich or the St. Elizabeth House or Feed the Hungry or Pantry Partners or Comitas ministries; if you haven’t involved yourself in the comfort of others, perhaps one might knit a prayer shawl and say a prayer over for a grieving spouse of parent, or one who is ill and let them feel the comfort and hope they need; if you see a neighbor struggling with a simple task, lend a hand; if some is upset or anxious, offer a prayer—or better yet join the Prayer Ministry and pray in numbers with others; if you think the world—and I mean our young children—need a role model in faith, perhaps offer to be a catechist in our faith formation program. There is an abundance of ways to “go out into the deep waters” of faith, and we don’t have to expert sea captains or navigators, for the Lord has that job well in hand. He is just looking for a hope-filled crew. Welcome aboard this Lent!