“Turn the Other Cheek” by Alexis Duffy, Fiat Ventures
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Growing up I always heard when someone is mean to you, all you do is turn the other cheek. This Sunday’s Gospel we hear Jesus say to do just that. This has always been something I struggle with. Turning the other cheek just opens us up to being hurt again. Why would I ever want to open myself up to being hurt?
I am currently expecting my first child, and opening myself up to uncomfortable and painful things is becoming the norm in my life. But there isn’t a pain I wouldn’t face, there is no challenge I wouldn’t take on for this baby. I love her so unconditionally that I would offer my life willingly for her, and she hasn’t even done anything for me yet. She really doesn’t even know who I am. I have been starting to think of Christ in this way.
We are all like my daughter in a way. We haven’t really done all that much for Christ, and many of us don’t even know who he is, but he would still give his life willingly for each and every one of us. He opened himself up to so much pain for us and we wouldn’t even be born for 2000 years.
As Christians we are called to live as Christ lived and sometimes that means opening ourselves up to pain for others. Granted that most of us will never be called to give our physical lives up, but we are called to sacrifice in smaller ways.
The second half of the Gospel speaks to this thought saying to love not only our neighbors, but our enemies as well. By turning our other cheek and loving our enemies, we might put in uncomfortable and painful situations. Enduring that pain is truly loving a person.
Now I will not say that I have the perfect grasp on what it means to be 100% selfless in loving others. Sometimes we are those people striking others and who have to turn the other cheek. It is easy to hurt people when we are upset and having a bad day. The people who take most of our strikes are the ones who love us the most. My mom and I used to fight a lot when I was a teenager. I would say pretty much anything to hurt her because I was mad she wouldn’t let me go out with my friends or she expected me home by a given time. No matter what I threw at my mom she never stopped loving me and wanting what was best for me. Christ works that way as well. We hurt God with every sin we commit over and over. We turn our back on God countless times, but he is still there with open arms and offering his other cheek to us!
