Sunday, June 16, 2024

11th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 16-06-2024

1 Kings 21:1-16 / Matthew 5:38-42  

In life, there are some principals that have to be kept so that there can be some order in life.

One such principle can be called the principle of limits.

Although the limits may not be specifically defined, yet we know that there is a line somewhere that marks that limit.

When we cross that line and go over the limit, then there will be trouble.

The saying of “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” is to put a limit when scores are to be settled.

The teaching of Jesus about not resisting the wicked and being generous to those who ask or borrow certainly challenges us to raise our limits of love and tolerance.

But Jesus is not saying that there is to be no limit to our love and tolerance.

In the 1st reading, what Ahab and his wife Jezebel did was certainly crossing the line of morality and going beyond the limits of tolerance.

And no doubt, they will be held accountable for the death of the innocent Naboth.

As much as we try not to resist the wicked and be generous to those who ask or borrow, let us also know that there is a limit to what the wicked can do to us and a limit to what we can give.

Let us remember that when the wicked cross that line of tolerance, God will intervene.

And God will know when we have reached the limits of our generosity and He will reward us with His blessings.