Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Yesterday in our first reading from 1 Kings, we heard the story of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel bringing about the death of Naboth in order that they could take over his property after he refused to give it up. Today the prophet Elijah confronts the ruler about this evil, and the life of evil that Ahab has chosen to live – not only by killing Naboth, but by worshiping idols and forgetting the Lord.
Ahab’s response when confronted by Elijah might remind us of King David when confronted by the prophet Nathan after his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. Ahab tears his garments, puts on sackcloth, fasts, and is subdued. In other words, King Ahab performs penance for his sins. He does not argue with Elijah or excuse his sins. Instead, he owns up to them and begins to make reparation. Of course, none of these penitential acts can fully compensate for the evil Ahab has done; there is no satisfaction for his offenses against God. But nonetheless, God accepts Ahab’s penance and delays the consequences of his sins for another generation.
Today’s psalm bears out the theme of penance as well; here we have David’s words after the Bathsheba/Uriah incident. “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned,” are the words of our response (Ps. 51:3a). And although we may not be guilty of the sins of Ahab or David, no doubt we also sin in our daily lives – everything from impatience with our family members to a lack of willingness to bear our crosses to indulging in food and drink to a lack of compassion for the poor and needy and so on.
Jesus’ words in the gospel for Matthew should strike us right at the heart in regard to our sins, for indeed, it is much easier to love those who love us than to love our enemies – those who annoy us, are inconsiderate to us, who try to cause suffering for us, who neglect us, who speak unkindly to us, etc. Most of us live out our lives in a selfish fashion, concerned mostly for ourselves and the ones closest to us- not entirely unlike Ahab. God calls us beyond this, however, by allowing us to be children of God and to seek perfection in the image of that Father who is revealed to us in the person of Christ. We can never be perfect all at once, but it is not so unattainable as we might think. Perfection begins with those small acts of penance that might almost go unnoticed – the smile given to an adversary, patient and compassionate listening to an annoying acquaintance, joyful care of one’s children even when exhausted, the willing acceptance of physical ailments, the generous donation to the needy among us, etc.
Each day we have the opportunity to realize ourselves as God’s children and move closer to that perfection that might be ours. Today, tomorrow, and every day, let us seek to find one discomfort or difficulty that we might joyfully offer up to God in reparation for our offenses against Him.
- Maria Morrow