Bulletin Shorts for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – 23 February 2020 

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18.  Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13.  1 Corinthians 3:16-23.  Matthew 5:38-48.

“The Lord is kind and merciful” [Psalm 103]. Jesus still teaches on the mount today. He moves from the “blessed are” to the “I say to you.” He says today: Do hot hate. Do not get even. Do not retaliate. Do not insult. Love your neighbor, domestic and foreign. He ends with this: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Clear. To the point. Hard but doable with God’s help.

• How will I be kind, be merciful today?
• Whom shall I stop hating?
• How can I shape my less-than-perfect behavior in the perfection of God?

This post was first published on the worship pages of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois website.
Sunday Prayer Shaping Life and Belief
Written by Eliot Kapitan.

Permission is given to use, reprint, and distribute these bulletin shorts in any way you find helpful for your community.

Image credit:  Pigoff PhotographY Unsplash, CC0.