Today’s Gospel from Saint Luke continues to confront us with a challenging message. Last week, we heard Luke’s telling of the Beatitudes. We hear about blessings and woes. God will take the world He created and turn it upside down. For the poor and suffering, this is good news.  For the wealthy and powerful, it could mean trouble. The Kingdom of God is like salad dressing. If you want the good stuff, you have to turn it upside down and shake it up.

Today’s Gospel is no easier. Loving enemies, forgiving those who mistreat us, turning the other cheek? I am sure when Jesus spoke those words He got the same reaction we might give. “Oh, come on! You gotta be kidding!”  We can sometimes think Jesus is telling us to be weak, and allow ourselves to be walked on. I don’t think that’s the point. Jesus is asking us to find another way. Slapping someone who slaps me only escalates the conflict. The object is to show the offender the failure of their love. Perhaps a way of saying it is the difference between,  “I hate you!” and “Is this who you really are?”

Last week I spoke about this latest twist on Jesus’ teaching which is referred to as the Order of Love. It claims the true Christian loves in a hierarchy: God first, then family, country, our own people and lastly, other people. There is solid logic to that. The problem is that too many people use it as an excuse to not love anyone beyond their own circle. As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, if we are so busy taking care of the ones we love, what credit is that to us? Even bad people do that.

The trick is to love people who are sometimes unlovable. Referring to the poor, Dorothy Day once said, “They tend to smell bad and are ungrateful.” And she did tremendous work for the poor! Love is not easy. Even more so, it is hard to love those we do not see, or don’t want to see. There are a lot of inconvenient people in society: the poor, the mentality disabled, immigrants, the homeless, etc. In families it can be hurting teens, aging parents, unexpected pregnancies. We can allow our own comfort to blind our eyes or our own sin to disable our hearts.

Jesus rejects anything calling itself an order of love that excuses us for not tending to those who are down the chain. Today, He gives us what might be a promise or might be a threat: The measure you measure out will be measured back to you. What we give will be given back. What we withhold, will be withheld from us. It is dicey business, this Christianity…

Gandhi is credited with saying, “The measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.” We could say the same for our families, too. I recently heard about a mother of many children who was asked who her favorite child was. She said, “The one who needs me most at the moment.” This requires we have instincts that are sensitive, and hearts that are willing. Luke 6:27-38. Take some time with this Gospel. Honestly reflect on where you are with it. It is a high ideal. I know I have a long way to go to reach it. Don’t be impatient with yourself. Don’t get discouraged. What we have to do is work our way up, one step at a tim23