Reading 1
The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.”
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13Responsorial Psalm
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
1 Cor 3:16-23Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.
Let no one deceive himself.
If any one among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,
for it is written:
God catches the wise in their own ruses,
and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are vain.
So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Mt 5:38-48Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Catholic Fundamentalism Interpretation:
This reading prefigures Christ telling us the same things, love your neighbor, don’t sin by hating or despising him, and don’t try to get revenge.
The Loving Programmer is telling Moses to tell people to love their neighbors as themselves and is telling them that command comes from the Greatest Authority.
The Loving Programmer loves the human programs and will provide them programming assistance.
Bless He Who programmed my being, O my soul (which is programmed in His image), Bless His Holy Name.
Bless the Loving Programmer, O soul, and don’t forget all that He does to help us.
The Loving Programmer loves the human programs and will provide them programming assistance.
He will forgive you your sins, and rewrite your program, erasing your errors. He will save you from destruction, and crown you with kindness and compassion.
The Loving Programmer loves the human programs and will provide them with programming assistance.
He is merciful and gracious, and He is slow to become angry at us, rather, abounding in kindness. He won’t give us what we deserve, or treat us according to sins, often great enough to be "crimes".
The Loving Programmer loves the human programs and will provide them with programming assistance.
He has put our sins far away from us, out of sight. As a father loves his children, so does the Loving Programmer love we who fear Him.
The Loving Programmer loves the human programs, and will provide them with programming assistance.
Brothers and sisters, God lives in each of us human programs, which means that each of us is His temple.
If anyone destroys (one of) His temple(s), The Loving Programmer will erase that person (at least from this part of The Creation Program), because the Programmer’s temple, which each of you has been programmed to be, is holy.
Let no one fool himself. If any of you thinks that you’re wise, become first a fool, then you may become wise. The wisdom of human programmers is pure foolishness to The Loving Programmer Who, after all, programmed the human programmers into being.
For it is written, The Loving Programmer catches the wise in their own schemes, and, again, The Loving Programmer knows what the wise (whom He programmed) are thinking, and knows how comparatively unintelligent they actually are (because He made them, they didn’t make Him).
Let no one boast about their human programming skills, because they all were programmed by God. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we’ve done or do, or what our names are. Nothing matters about the world, including life and death, present and future. We all belong to The Loving Programmer, Him to The Program, Jesus Christ in perfect, obedient, human form, and Christ to the fullness of The Holy Trinity.
Jesus told His disciples: "’You’ve heard that justice required an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
"But, I say to you, don’t offer resistance to an evil person.
When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one (to be struck) as well.
If someone wants to sue you for some possession, give him two.
If someone wants to force you to work some period for them, work two.
Give to whomever asks of you, and don’t turn your back on someone who wants to borrow from you.
"You’ve heard it said you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Now, it’s time for New Programming Instructions! Love your enemy. Ask The Loving Programmer to provide programming assistance for those who are actively against you, so that you may be (actual) children of The Loving Programmer, for He has programmed The Creation Program to let physical energy be available for the bad and the good. He supplies both good and bad with water. If you love those who love you, what will you gain? Don’t tax collectors do that? And, if you’re happy to see only those like you, should that be a big deal? Don’t people who have no idea about The Loving Programmer do that?
So be perfect (in loving your neighbors) just as your heavenly Father, (The Loving Programmer) is perfect."
