Sunday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today is the Sunday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time. The assigned readings are Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; and Matthew 5:38-48. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 103 (Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13)."

The Gospel reading is as follows:

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

In a reflection on this Gospel reading, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio asks if Jesus want us to be doormats, suckers who allow ourselves to be taken advantage of by every bully, dictator, and gangster that comes down the pike:

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio: Turn the Other Cheek?

In his homily for this weekend, Deacon Greg Kandra says, “If you wanted to find the most challenging, most difficult, most confounding passage in all of the gospels, this just might be it.

“It is also the most fundamentally Christian – because it is the passage that calls on each of us to be the most like Christ.  More than that, it calls on us to be ‘perfect, like the Father is perfect.’”

To read Deacon Kandra’s complete homily, please visit:

The Deacon's Bench: Homily for February 20, 2011: 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time