MONDAY, ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1 Kgs 21: 1-16 Ps 5: 2-7 Mt 5: 38-42
MY RESPONSE TO INJUSTICE
In today’s first reading, Ahab and opens up a negotiation with Naboth about his vineyard in Jezreel. Ahab makes an offer to Naboth to give him a better vineyard. Naboth tells the king that he is unable to agree to his request, due to “ancestral inheritance.” Ahab goes home “resentful and sullen” (v 4). His wife Jezebel looked at the situation differently. She saw land as a commodity. The crown had a privileged claim and instructs her husband to act like a king. He has a right to the vineyard if he would like it.
Israelite law was based on the principle that the land belonged to YHWH and whom he had given it. Naboth had the law to support him in his right to maintain ownership of his ancestral land. This may not have always been respected. In Lev 25:8 22 if a person was incapable to repay a debt, his land could be taken from him. Even in such cases, attempts were made to honour original ownership. For example, the law of Jubilee. Jezebel in her craftiness, sets up false witnesses who claim that Naboth had cursed God and the king (v 10). It was not difficult to find two people willing to fabricate the truth, so Naboth is condemned and killed. Ahab was happy to obey his wife and take possession of the ill-gotten vineyard. An abuse of power, injustice and open violence against the innocent.
In today’s responsorial Psalm, a person who is unjustly accused appeals to YHWH. He does not boast or proclaim about his innocence. He entrusts himself to God’s justice. In Ps 5:4 we are told that “For you are not one who wills evil.” We will bring destruction upon ourselves when we do not conform or live according to the truth. When we are insulted or treated badly, Christ invites us to respond as Jesus did. In the second instance, He invites us to choose generosity. We do not always need to defend our rights. Jesus invites us as his disciples to use our freedom to serve others, even when injustice is done to us. What is my response?
Response: O Lord, give heed to my sighs.
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