Mt 5:38-42 An Eye for an Eye...

I remember when I was a kid actually listening to this reading about an "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." (See Lv 24:19-21) My siblings and I were grossed out by the idea of cutting out an eye.  The teeth we could understand, our teeth when loose were sometimes tied by string to a door knob so they'd fall out sooner. 

It was one of our uncles who finally sat us down and told us that we had misinterpreted what we were hearing.  The idea of was that there should be just compensation for a loss.  If someone steals something then they work it off, or replace the item with something similar of equal value.  If someone wrongfully harms your reputation, then they try to make up for it through honesty and admitting that they had messed-up to those whom they had originally deceived.

Jesus give us this same line from Leviticus today, but adds to it a challenging message of patience, charity and forgiveness: 
"When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow"

Mt 5:13-16 Salt of the Earth

What if in life we took for granted those good things that we do for others?  Would we not care if we did them any more?  Would our acts of charity become meaningless?  Would the love within us dry up?  Would that goodness in us lose its flavor? 

In the US we have been conditioned to use salt alternatives, like mixtures of lemon peel and herbs to flavor our foods.  Recently a friend hosted a Persian meal at his home.  The rice was incredible.  His wife had spent six hours or more making it.  I'm accustomed to using just steamed rice.  The Persian rice was rinsed, soaked for four hours, par boiled, rinsed again, cooked slowly with salt and oil.  The salt was "poured in" as she described in a way that she was not originally accustomed to--it took her twenty years to cook this rice.  Then the heat was reduced and slow cooked until the rice was tender and a hard shell had formed at the bottom.  It was then turned over onto a serving platter so that the hard shell was now on top and the soft rice underneath.  Then toasted pomegranate seeds were sprinkled over the dish.  The flavor of the rice was amazing. 

The salt was what made the dish.  Too much would have ruined it.  To little and it would not have been memorable.  We are called to pop out our faith in the world just like the salt did in the Persian rice giving it that wonderful invigorating quality.  We are the salt of the earth.  We are the light of the world.  We cannot hide ourselves, but are called to be that element that brings forth the goodness of those things around us just as salt and light do to those things that it is placed around.  In this way, our deeds, our words, will glorify God. 

Luke 4:1-13 Temptation in the Desert

"Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days..."

These lines remind us of Jesus' baptism at the Jordan when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and the Voice of God the Father was heard saying, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased."  The Spirit then brings him to the desert where he is tempted. 

We are all temped every one of us, even once we are baptized.  We are given the fruits of the Spirit to help us in our life's journeys.  What are these gifts from God that we should be aware of and be comfortable employing in face of temptations and life's troubles?  They are wisdom, understanding, fortitude, counsel, knowledge, piety, and fear/awe of the Lord.  These gifts can help us so much.  They helped Jesus in the temptations in the desert.  These gifts of the Holy Spirit helped to lead Jesus our of the desert.  They help us too in our tough times.  When we lose our pride and ask God for help, that is when we can be led by the Spirit the best. 

We are called to conversion and our Lenten journey should help us there.  Let the Spirit guide you in his love and mercy, through acts of kindness and charity toward others.