Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Memorial)

The scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him. 

Have you ever experienced someone judging you harshly or treating you with hostility because of the way you live your faith? Maybe a relative thinks you’re too lax when it comes to the way you’re raising your children in the faith. Or maybe a coworker likes to tell off-color jokes around you to see how you will react. Even if it’s over a “small” issue like the way you dress for Mass, someone else’s disapproval can still sting. It can also make us want to retaliate against them.

Scenarios like these are a small portion of the kind of treatment Jesus received on a regular basis. If it wasn’t a scribe challenging his knowledge of Scripture (Luke 10:25), it was a Pharisee critiquing his failure to wash his hands (11:38). Or a whole Samaritan village refusing him entry to their town (9:51-53), or some of John the Baptist’s disciples questioning if he even was the Messiah (7:20). And then there was that time when his own townsfolk tried to throw him over a cliff (4:28-29)!

In today’s Gospel, we see one way that Jesus reacted to all this hostility. Speaking very directly, he called out his detractors for their hypocrisy and refusal to believe. We might read this passage as Jesus finally losing his cool and railing against them in fury. But we should remember that Jesus, more than anyone else, lived out his own teachings about loving our enemies. Remember how he wept over those who had rejected him, heartbroken that they had failed to recognize the “time of [their] visitation” (Luke 19:44). Or think of how he asked his Father to forgive the very people who crucified him (23:34). Clearly, Jesus’ way is the way of love!

So how will you respond to the negative feelings that rise up when someone is hostile toward you? Will you let their words cloud your heart and move you to retaliate in kind? Or will you take these “enemies” to the Lord and ask him to give you his own love for them? It’s not always easy to forgive those who hurt you, but it is always possible. In Christ, you can live in peace!

“Lord, help me to see everyone as you do. Jesus, give me your heart of love!”

Ephesians 1:1-10
Psalm 98:1-6
Luke 11:47-54