Father Rick’s Two-Minute Homily for 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

February 23, 2025, Luke 6:27-38

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022325.cfm

Only Carnivores Eat Raw Meat.

There is nothing like catching a whiff of a great steak cooking slowly on a grill. If we visit someone, the question, “How do you like your steak?” always comes up. How would we feel if we were visiting someone, and they put a raw piece of meat on a plate in front of us? We would think it was a joke. “You are kidding, right?” we would say. If they were serious, we would have to leave. We wouldn’t even take a bite. The whole thought is ridiculous.

That is what Jesus is getting at in today’s gospel. The word RAW comes to mind when He tells us to love our enemies and do good to those who hurt us. The moment someone abuses us somehow; we feel the RAW pain deep inside. It overwhelms our thoughts and emotions—it stares in the face. We can’t see clearly. 

Consider this: just as we wouldn’t serve someone a raw piece of meat, we often don’t hesitate to serve them our raw feelings of anger and pain. But here’s the twist. When Jesus tells us to love our enemy and be good to those who hurt us, He knows we can do it. We are not animals that chew on the raw feelings that plague us over time. So, how do we get past those feelings?

Before I ask mercy on my enemy, I ask the Lord to have mercy on myself. I ask forgiveness for letting the thought become so much a part of me that I feel anger and hate. It wasn’t what someone said or did to me. I have no control over another’s behavior. But with the mercy of the Lord, he can help me let go of the thought and laugh at how silly I would be to let that pain inside of me.

I leave the animal behind me. Welcome to the child of God. Yes, you and I are God’s children, even to our enemies. Ok, we can’t do it alone. If we try to do it with willpower, it never lasts. 

We need a fundamental change in our person, a transfiguration from pain into healing freedom that looks back at what happened and laughs. Not at the person who hurt us, but at ourselves, even thinking we would consume something RAW for a moment.

If we do, it becomes who we are. If we did in the past, put it on the grill of Jesus’ burning love for us. He is there to guide us through this transformation, knowing exactly how we like our steak.

Love your Neighbor!

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
pastor@bscchurch.com