Daily Catholic Lectio. Tue, 16 June 2026. More than Others

Daily Catholic Lectio
Tue, 16 June 2026
XI Week in Ordinary Time
1 Kgs 21:17-29. Mt 5:43-48

More than Others

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount. He takes another commandment from the Old Testament and brings it to its fullness. The common understanding was: “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” Jesus goes beyond this way of thinking and presents God’s own love as the model for Christian living.

Most human relationships operate on the principle of exchange and reciprocity. We love those who love us. We greet those who greet us. We help those who help us. We are kind to those who are kind to us. Such behaviour is natural and easy. It creates harmony and avoids conflict.

But Jesus asks a deeper question: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you have? What are you doing more than others?”

This is the heart of today’s Gospel.

A disciple of Christ is called to do more than what comes naturally. Christian love is not measured by how we treat our friends, but by how we treat those who are difficult to love. Therefore Jesus says: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

This does not mean approving evil or pretending that injustice does not exist. Rather, it means refusing to allow hatred to govern our hearts. Jesus teaches us to respond as God responds. The Father causes His sun to rise on both the good and the bad, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust. God’s love is generous, universal, and unconditional.

Jesus Himself demonstrated this love on the Cross. He prayed for those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them.” He did not merely teach love of enemies; He lived it.

The command to love our enemies is not simply a moral challenge. It is an invitation to become like God. Jesus concludes: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Here perfection does not mean flawlessness. It means completeness in love. Love matures when it reaches beyond those who deserve it and embraces even those who oppose us.

The first reading presents a difficult contrast. Ahab and Jezebel commit a grave injustice against Naboth. Through false accusations and abuse of power, they take his vineyard and cause his death. God sends Elijah to pronounce judgement upon Ahab.

This passage may lead us to ask: Why does God punish here? Could He not simply forgive? Is the God of the Old Testament a God of judgement while the God of the New Testament is a God of mercy?

The answer is deeper than such a contrast. Both justice and mercy belong to God. God’s judgement against Ahab reveals that evil matters and that injustice cannot be ignored. Yet even in this reading, when Ahab humbles himself and repents, God shows mercy and delays the punishment. Divine justice and divine mercy are not opposites; they work together.

This helps us understand Jesus’ teaching. Loving our enemies does not mean denying justice. It means refusing personal revenge and leaving judgement in God’s hands. We seek the conversion of the sinner while opposing the sin.

Today’s Gospel invites us to examine the measure of our love. Most people love those who love them. Jesus asks His disciples to love a little more. Most people forgive when it is easy. Jesus asks us to forgive a little more. Most people serve when there is gratitude. Jesus asks us to serve a little more.

Perhaps this can become our simple rule of life: let our love always be a little greater than what others expect, a little greater than what others deserve, and a little greater than what comes naturally to us. For the true measure of Christian discipleship is not whether we love like everyone else, but whether we love more than others.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai

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