Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19th, 2020

Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19th, 2020

For my secular job, I work at a juvenile prison as a counselor.  I see disrespect on a daily basis.  Well, to be honest, I see disrespect on an hourly basis.  The pattern is always the same.  When the boys don't get what they want, then they get angry, and when they get angry this is when they become insulting to the folks they are mad at.  And at that point when they let their anger take over and that is all they care about, they don't care about any consequences.   Talk about having "thick skin."  You really get to practice "turning the other cheek" at a job like that.  But honestly in the day and age in which we live, sadly, it seems as though all of us are getting more and more of an opportunity to "turn the other cheek."  You hear about incidents of "road rage" and see it with your own eyes when you aren't moving fast enough for the person behind you in traffic.  You see it in the stores when people seem to think it is alright to be rude to complete strangers.  You certainly see it here on the internet.  People will post all kinds of hateful comments and insults when they disagree with you.  And why do they do this?  I contend it's because there are no consequences for behavior like this on the internet like there would be in the real world.  On the internet I can write down some insult to a complete stranger and nothing will happen to me.  If I do that in the "real world" I run the risk of getting punched in the mouth.  But the point is still the same, whether it is on the internet or in the store or in traffic, we seem to have our fair opportunity for people to get mad at us.  

St Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans:  "Bless them which persecute you" (Romans 12:14)  Wow!  It would have been much easier if St. Paul had said that we should "Ignore them which persecute you."  Well, even then that might take a little doing but it would still be easier than Blessing them which persecute us.  St. Paul even goes on to say a few verses later:  "Recompense to no man evil for evil."  (Romans 12:17)  Don't we do this?  When someone does something wrong to us, don't we hope that person gets something bad done to them?  In fact we hope the other person gets it worse!   I suppose St. Paul gives this advice because Our Blessed Saviour in essence said the same thing:  "'But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."  (St. Matthew 5:44)  Wow!  St. Paul just said for us to bless those who persecute us whereas Our Lord directs us to love them . . .  bless them . . . . do good to them . . . and pray for them!  As I like to say, Our Blessed Lord never asks us to do anything that He is not willing to do Himself.  Consider the words of Our Lord while He was hanging from the Cross:  "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (St. Luke 23:34)    None of us are perfect.  Very often we will fail but that does not mean we should stop trying.  Especially when it comes to being a Christian, we should always do our best.  And doing our best means following Our Lord's commands.  We  need to bless those who hate us.  Do good for those who wish us harm.  Pray for them that despise us.  Show love to those who wish evil to you.  These are not easy things to do by any stretch of the imagination but Our Lord did these things.  Our Lord practiced what He preached.  Our Lord asks us to do the same.  No, it is not easy but Our Lord asks us to do it.  

St. Margaret Church meets each and every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  We use the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Come join us as we listen to God speak to us through His Word.  At Communion time, we receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to nourish us and give us strength for our journey called life.