Homily
[1Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-25; Psalm 103; 1Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38]
Over the past week we have all been attentive, I am sure, to the health of the Holy Father. Reports from the Vatican Press Office tell he has been suffering from a polymicrobial infection as well as double pneumonia, and is undergoing a complex medical treatment involving antibiotics and other therapies. Let us continue to hold Pope Francis in prayer, asking the Lord to strengthen him and lead him to recovery.
This situation puts me in mind of another “viral infection”, one that the Pope himself has warned the world against frequently throughout his pontificate. It arises from a virus coursing throughout the globe for quite some time now, infecting the thoughts and emotions of countless individuals. I speak of the virus called animosity, a deep-seated ill feeling towards other people. Symptoms of the infection it breeds are everywhere to be seen: nations at war, angry political discourse, social media vitriol, and the destruction of reputations. Of course, the virus of animosity shows itself not only in broad societal affairs, but also in our personal daily interactions with others. Symptomatic expressions of the hostility infection would be, for example, gossiping about someone who has received a promotion at work, judgmental attitudes toward the homeless of our city, or delight at someone’s misfortune. Like the doctors who are prescribing antidotes to the infections compromising the health of the Holy Father, Pope Francis has himself often pointed the world to the remedy that Jesus prescribes to heal the hostility poisoning the network of human relationships, namely, the medicine of mercy.
We hear this clearly in today’s text from the Gospel of Saint Luke, where Jesus says: Love your enemies; turn the other cheek; do not condemn; forgive. Let’s pay close attention to our response to this instruction of the Lord. Even though we are followers of Jesus Christ and know his teaching is right, we might at first find this a bitter pill to swallow. It is so much easier to lash out in retribution when we are hurt, or to bear a grudge if we have been wronged, than to will the good of an evildoer and forgive. As we ponder further the biblical texts, we learn how we can allow mercy, rather than retribution, to shape both our attitudes and interactions.
Saint Paul, in the second reading, reminds us that, from a purely human perspective, we are descended from Adam, but spiritually united to Jesus Christ. In the background of what Paul says is the reality of our Baptism, by which the life of Jesus Christ becomes the very principle of our own. On the purely physical level, we grapple with thoughts and emotions often at odds with our Christian dignity and calling. Paul is encouraging us to be guided not by the physical but spiritual dimension of our lives, which is to say, by the grace of Christ at work within us. This gift of grace is the antidote to the animosity bug. As we allow the love of Christ to pervade our being, God heals our minds by recalling how merciful He has been to us, sinners that we are, and softens our hearts towards others, whose reality and history we cannot fully know. “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful,” Jesus tells us. Because God has been merciful, we cannot do otherwise than extend mercy to others. For this, we need to live conscious of our spiritual union with Jesus Christ and call upon his grace for help.
We can liken this to taking preventative measures so as not to catch the bug. Whenever we hear a virus is in the air, we instinctively try to avoid catching it. But it is also incumbent upon us all not to spread it to others. We prevent ourselves from “catching” the hostility virus by calling upon the grace of Christ and remembering the mercy of God toward us. Stopping the spread requires a conscious decision to extend mercy to others.
A beautiful example of “stopping the spread” of hostility is given in the story of David, recounted in the first reading. He and his followers are immersed in a venomous atmosphere of hatred and recrimination. David, as he flees from King Saul, who wants to kill him, has an opportunity to end the King’s life. His followers encourage him to do so, but instead, to their amazement and that of Saul, he shows clemency to the King. This act of mercy stops the cycle of violence; it prevents the spread of the virus.
The instruction of Jesus on mercy, together with the teaching of Saint Paul and the example of David, underscores our mission today as followers of Christ. In many ways, the world has become a harsh and angry place. Our call is to help stop the spread of vitriol and recrimination by being agents of mercy to others. Hostility breeds more hostility. Mercy stops it in its tracks.
Let us bring this now to the Eucharist. Here, in the mass, divine mercy reaches us anew. Christ’s supreme manifestation of mercy, his self-sacrifice on the Cross, is rendered present in the offering of his Body and Blood. May the grace of communion in this sacrament heal us of any inward bitterness or anger, and liberate us to be proclaimers of Christ’s mercy as the only true remedy for the bitterness dividing our world.
✠ Most Reverend Richard W. Smith
Saint Joseph Basilica
February 23rd, 2025