Give and It Shall Be Given

Where We Are

Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time. The evangelist Luke continues the Sermon on the Plain with Jesus's teaching on enemy love, generosity, and the measure we use for others. Yesterday's Beatitudes described the blessed life; today's teaching describes how to live it in the hardest possible circumstances, when the person in front of you is your enemy. This is where the gospel becomes most scandalous and most beautiful. Paul addresses the limits of knowledge and the primacy of love in the Corinthian community, reminding them that without love, all else is noise.

The Word

"Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who slander you" (Luke 6:27-28). If someone strikes your cheek, offer the other. Give to everyone who asks. "And just as you wish men to treat you, treat them similarly." Be merciful, as your Father is merciful. Do not judge. Do not condemn. Forgive. "Give, and it shall be given to you: a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, they shall give unto your lap. For with the same measure by which you measure, so shall it be measured back to you" (Luke 6:38).

Today's Full Readings

First Reading — 1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13

Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 23-24

Gospel — Luke 6:27-38

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Reflect

Luke's version of enemy love is even more concrete than Matthew's. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who slander you. Give your coat, give your shirt, give to everyone who asks. This is extravagant, impractical, and transformative.

The logic of the kingdom is counterintuitive: the way to receive is to give. "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing" is marketplace language. When you bought grain, the vendor would press it down in the container and shake it to settle, then add more until it overflowed. This is how God measures his return on our generosity: pressed down, shaken, overflowing.

But the same principle works in reverse: "With the same measure by which you measure, so shall it be measured back to you." If you judge harshly, you will be judged harshly. If you condemn, you will be condemned. If you are stingy with forgiveness, forgiveness will be stingy with you. The standard you set for others is the standard that will be applied to you.

Paul's teaching about knowledge being incomplete while love endures provides the Corinthian context. "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." You can know everything about God and still miss the point. The point is love: enemy love, generous love, forgiving love, overflowing love.

Living It

Practice the "overflowing measure" today. In one interaction, give more than is expected: more patience, more generosity, more grace. Let it overflow from a heart that has been filled by God rather than from a sense of obligation.

Examine the standard you use for others. Is it the same standard you want applied to you? If you are harsh with others, expect harshness in return. If you measure with mercy, mercy will be your measure. Choose the measure you would want to receive.

Do one concrete act of enemy love today. Bless someone who has cursed you, if only in prayer. Pray for their flourishing, not their punishment. This is not natural; it is supernatural. Ask for the grace to do it, and trust that the asking itself is already obedience.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you call us to love that overflows, love for enemies, generosity without limit, mercy without measure. We confess that we are stingy with our grace. Give us your extravagant heart. Press down, shake together, and overflow in us, so that the same measure of love we give may come back to us a hundredfold. Amen.

Today's reflection draws from Luke 6:27-38 and 1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13 (CPDV), per the Ordo Lectionum Missae.