10-09-2026, Thursday of Twenty Third Week in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 8: 1-7, 11-13; Ps 139: 1-3, 13-14, 23-24; Lk 6: 27-38
ἀπολύετε (Gk) (Apolyete) (release) (Lk 6:37)
The Word to reflect today is from today’s Gospel passage according to Luke (6:27-38). The word Apolyete literally means to set free, to release; to let go, dismiss, to detain no longer; to bid depart, send away; to release a debtor. However, in the English translations of the Bible, it is translated as Forgive, and sometimes as Pardon. Forgiveness here is framed not just as overlooking an offense, but as loosening the ropes of debt and accusation that bind both offender and victim.
Today’s gospel passage is filled with hidden meaning. Let us look at a few words.
When Jesus says “Love” (agape) your enemies. This is not a mere emotional affection. It is a deliberate, active commitment to seek the ultimate good of the other, regardless of personal feeling or cost. Jesus commands this as a habitual posture toward hostile adversaries, not a rare burst of goodwill.
“Bless those who curse you” “Eulogeite” translated as “bless” actually is a compound of two words, eu = well, logos = word. It actually means speak well of those who curse you. “Eulogeite” actively invokes divine favour upon those who demean you, refusing to let another person’s malice dictate your speech. In an era of free expression, when we want to express our emotions, our passions, using slander, bad language, curses, etc; Jesus is asking us to use Blessing. To be different from others around us.
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” While Matthew’s uses teleioi (“perfect” Mt 5:48), Luke chooses oiktirmōn. This term emphasizes deep compassion, the outward movement of God’s gut-wrenching mercy toward the vulnerable and ungrateful.
Natural human justice functions on equilibrium: an eye for an eye, favour for favour, insult for insult. Most of our relationships operate like business transactions, involving exchange of give and take. “I’ll scratch you, if you scratch me.” Jesus asks his followers to live by a standard that goes completely against human nature. Most people treat others the way they are treated: being kind to friends, trading Favors, and fighting back against enemies. Jesus calls for something far more radical. To live like God, we must stop keeping score. God provides sunshine and rain to everyone, even those who hate him. When we refuse to strike back, lend without demanding repayment, and let go of grudges, we break the cycle of anger and retaliation.
When you choose mercy over revenge, God meets your generosity with an abundance you could never measure out on your own, a measure “pressed down, shaken together, running over”. This is an example drawn from the ancient grain market, where a generous merchant shook the basket, so grain settled into the gaps, pressed it compact, and let it spill over the edges into the fold of the customer’s garment. Loving the enemy is not passive submission to injustice; it is a refusal to let evil dictate the terms of engagement. It breaks the cycle of vengeance by absorbing the blow, speaking blessing into hostility, and trusting that God’s measure of mercy will outlast human cruelty.