That extra mile...

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

June 13, 2022: Celebrating St. Anthony, the apostle of the Word

1 Kings 21: 1-16, Matthew 5: 38-42

Jesus presents to us the most impractical of all his teachings... showing the other cheek, giving more of what you are deprived of, and walking that extra mile with the one who tries to take advantage of me. This was in fact the teaching that inspired great personalities and movements in history, be it non-violent movement of Mahatma Gandhi or that of Martin Luther King Junior. St. Paul paraphrased it well when he wrote to the Romans: do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21). St. Anthony, with his Franciscan heart lived this to the full and has left us an example too!

The first reading pictures for us the exploitative element that is always present in the world, in fact it  presents us with the opportunity to practice our virtues and attain our salvation. At times the evil around us threatens to take the better of us, but the Word today reminds us of a fundamental attitude we are called to - never retaliate but to repay evil with good! 

That we can identify ourselves as disciples of Christ, we are expected to be spiritually prepared to allow ourselves be taken for granted without letting the goodness within us go down the drain; we are called to be who we are regardless of what others are! We are called to concentrate on the Lord who lives within us, instead of the evil one who attacks us from the outside! The more focussed we are on the inner nature that the Lord has given us, the more capable we shall be to confront the attacks of the evil one, as we see in the life of St. Anthony. 

However, this lifestyle of doing good to all and being good at all times, in spite of what is done to us, is ofcourse difficult and demanding...but that alone can make a difference in this world - that extra mile!