Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 5: 38-42
June 19, 2023 | Monday

Today’s Gospel

You have heard, that it was said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you this: do not oppose evil with evil; if someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other. If someone sues you in court for your shirt, give him your coat as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give when asked, and do not turn your back on anyone who wants to borrow from you.

One of the obstacles to being able to give oneself entirely to Christ is the attachment to one’s ego and entitlements. It is true that there are many disciples who gave up some of the things that are significant to them before following Christ. But it doesn’t give them the right to feel or say to themselves that “I do not deserve to be maltreated or misinterpreted.” One has not yet entirely surrendered oneself to Christ if one can still feel such kind of entitlement or the clamor for better treatments. Like St. Paul in the first reading, and like what Jesus said in the Gospel, one must not only expect good things when one decides to follow in Christ’s footsteps. Even Christ Himself wholeheartedly accepted the mistreatments that He never deserved. /Vulnerasti, 2023