7th Sunday of the Year (C)

Liturgical readings

1 Sam 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Psalm 103
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Luke 6:27-38

"For the measure you measure with will be measured back to you."

God's commandment of love is at the heart of Jesus' teaching in Luke 6:27-38. In this passage, we get to know who God is and who we are as human beings. God is kind (Lk 6:38) and He's a compassionate father (Lk 6:36). Those who accept the message of Jesus are called to reflect that same mercy in their lives. All the faithful are called to "love their enemies" (Lk 6:27-35), for Jesus Himself taught by His example on the Cross that to love one's enemies is "to forgive them for they did not know what they did". On our part, we too must seek forgiveness for the times we also "did not know what we did" to our own enemies. It is a great grace to forgive; and it comes from Christ in the Sacraments.

The whole history of the Christian faith shows many that some have really followed Christ to the Cross. From apostolic times and through the years when persecution of Christians was at its height in the 3rd to the early years of the 4th century, and even now at present, many martyrs of the faith have given their lives to attest to the great ethic of God's Kingdom. Names like: St. Stephen the deacon, St. Sebastian, the virgin-martyrs Cecilia, Agnes, Lucy, Agatha, the WWII martyrs St. Edith Stein and St. Maximilian Kolbe and many others. These martyrs have inspired the entire Church to see that the love of Christ continues throughout many centuries. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church" (Tertullian). The faith of the Church grows strong because of the the witness of Christ and the martyrs.

Martyrdom is not a call nor a vocation to all in the Church. It is only for those who have been chosen by Christ to follow Him in His love to the very height of the Cross. But all the faithful are called to "love their enemies" by sanctifying their daily work with the patience and endurance required of their Christian state of life, and the painstaking need to complete all their tasks to meet all obligations. And this everyone does even in an environment where it is difficult to get along with co-workers who are completely opposite to one's temperament or work ethic. However, Christ's ethic of love is a solution: to make Christ and His ethic central to all in one's work and life. If this discipline is practiced daily with plain common sense, then one can learn to turn all the circumstances and events of one's work and life into opportunities to love God and serve Him. With the measure of mercy we received should we also be merciful to others with that same mercy.

Commemoration of Saints (February 22)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Chair of Peter, Apostle
• Thalassius and Limnaeus
• Baradates
• Margaret of Cortona

The Chair of Peter celebrates the triumph of Christ's grace in the heart and soul of St. Peter and in his status as the primary pastor and teacher of the Church. Why do we say "triumph"? Biblical texts show that even if Peter was chosen to lead the Catholic Church by Jesus, he is presented at certain New Testament texts as a weak and sinful man at first:

• He misunderstands Jesus (Mk 9:5-6)
• He weakens in faith after beginning to walk on water (Mt 18:10-11)
• He is rebuked by Jesus (Mk 8:33)
• He boasts (John 13:37-38)
• He denied Christ (Mark 14:66-72)

But, in spite of all these, the Risen Lord appears to Peter and he becomes once again a source of strength to the Church (Luke 22:32).

The Chair of Peter is celebrated as a Feast in the liturgy of the Catholic Church since the 4th century A.D. This Feast is celebrated in Rome as a sign of the unity of the Church founded upon the apostle Peter.

What is a feast? A feast is a liturgical day dedicated to celebrating a significant event in the life of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a major saint, considered to be of high importance but not as high as a "solemnity". A feast is marked by special prayers and readings during Mass to commemorate the person or event being honored, such as the Chair of Peter. Essentially, it's a day of heightened celebration within the liturgical year for Catholics in the universal Church.

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 22]

• Finding of the venerable Relics of Sts. Martyrs at Eugenia
• Venerable Peter, Monk, and Athanasius, Martyrs

The "Finding of the venerable Relics of Sts. Martyrs at Eugenia" refers to a historical event where the relics of Christian martyrs, specifically believed to be associated with Saint Eugenia, were discovered at a location called "Eugenia," often near Constantinople, according to Byzantine tradition. This discovery is typically commemorated every February 22nd.

Commemoration of Saints (February 21)

Solemnities, Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials, and Traditional Dates of Commemoration

• Peter Damian, bishop and doctor
• Severian, bishop and martyr
• Germanus of Granfel, martyr
• George of Amastris, bishop
• Robert Southwell, priest and martyr

St. Peter Damian (1007-1072 A.D.) was a major reformer of the papacy, episcopate, clergy and monasteries. He entered at first the Camaldolese Benedictine monastery at Fonte Avellana which was founded by St. Romuald. He soon rose to a position in the Church - appointed bishop of Ostia, and then the cardinalate. However, Peter remained a monk at heart and persuaded Pope Alexander II to relieve him of his episcopal duties to return to Fonte Avellana. He died on February 22, 1072 A.D.

The feast for St. Peter Damian today, February 21, is an Optional Memorial.

Related blog posts:

• Learn more on the life, work, and writings of St. Peter Damian
• St. Romuald, founder of the monastery at Fonte Avellana, and refounded by St. Peter Damian, Learn more
• Monastic Reform in the 10th Century, Learn more

St. Robert Southwell (ca. 1561-1595 A.D.) was a Jesuit priest, poet and martyr. According to writer Phyllis McGinley, of the inspiring book Saint-Watching, she observed that the Jesuit Order produced two literary geniuses: St. Robert Southwell in the late 16th century A.D., and Gerard Manley Hopkins in the 19th century A.D.

St. Robert, like Edmund Campion, SJ, was one of the Jesuits canonized among the "Forty Martyrs of England and Wales" by Pope Paul VI in 1970 A.D.

You can read his poem The Burning Babe, an example of sacred poetry, Learn more

Saints in the Byzantine Calendar [February 21]

• Timothy, Hermit
• Eustacius, Archbishop of Antioch

St. Timothy of Symbola became a monk at a young age in the monastery called Symbola in Asia Minor near Mount Olympus. At Symbola he was the disciple of Theoctistus, and then the disciple of St. Platon at the Studion Monastery. He then spent many years as a hermit, offering prayers to the Lord God in the wilderness, the mountains, and the forests. He died in the year 795 A.D. Learn more from Byzantinela.com