Jesus Christ, besides being our Savior, was also our teacher of ethics and morals. The salvation that Christ gives us consists 
in the forgiveness of sins, in regeneration as children of God and in the promise of eternal life; these are gifts of God that we receive through faith and the sacraments in the Church. But that inner transformation must be manifested in outward behavior. For this reason, Jesus taught at length what criteria we should employ and what standards we should follow to regulate our conduct as children of God.
The commandments help us grow in humanity and holiness by guiding us to freely choose constructive rather than destructive behaviors.
The Gospel passage we have just read and listened to is extremely demanding and allows us to glimpse the degree of sublimity of conduct to which Jesus summons us. We can be sure that, in many cases, the criteria and the norm of conduct that Jesus proposes contrast with the criteria of conduct of this world. Already the first sentence breaks all the schemes: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who slander you”. The word “love” in that sentence does not refer to feelings, but to deeds.
One can hardly have feelings of benevolence towards a person who harms one, but one can overcome feelings of animosity towards those who harm us by returning good for evil. Love for one’s enemies is expressed in deeds: do good, bless, pray.
One can hardly have feelings of benevolence towards a person who harms one, but one can overcome feelings of animosity towards those who harm us by returning good for evil. Love for one’s enemies is expressed in deeds: do good, bless, pray. Today’s first reading brings us the example of the man who would become King David. King Saul pursued David to death out of envy and jealousy. David was presented with the opportunity to kill Saul and he did not do it. During the night he stayed by his side without anyone waking up, neither Saul nor his bodyguards. David only took the spear and the water pitcher that were next to Saul as proof that he had been by Saul’s side and had not harmed him, had not killed him. That was an example of love for the enemy.
It is legitimate to seek justice, but it is not legitimate to seek revenge. It is legitimate to seek justice to maintain order and the common social good. Tolerance of evil produces social degradation. Therefore, the following sentences should be understood correctly: “To him who strikes you on one cheek, present the other; to him who takes away your cloak, let him take your tunic also”. I believe that these phrases should not be understood literally as an exhortation to accept the abuse and arrogance of others without resistance. These phrases fall into the same category as those of Jesus in which
commands: “If your right eye is an occasion of sin for you, pluck it out and throw it away from you; it is better for you to lose one of your members than to be thrown into the fire that does not go out” (Mt 5:29). The Church has never understood this command of Jesus literally, in such a way that voluntary mutilation for reasons of sin has been permitted. This phrase has been understood in a figurative sense, as an exhortation to discipline, asceticism and the government of one’s own body.
Likewise, I believe that the exhortation to turn the other cheek or to let the thief or extortioner take the rest of one’s property should be understood in a figurative sense, since the Church has never prohibited or censured recourse to justice when one suffers aggression or injury. These expressions are a mandate to restrain the thirst for vengeance and, above all, to generate an atmosphere and relationships of gratuitousness. God is grace, favor and
benevolence towards us; we too must act in such a way that favor, gratuitousness and generosity become the social climate of our human relationships. The very opposite of gratuitousness is revenge. Human justice is often imperfect, incomplete and partial. But to take justice into one’s own hands by lynching is a crime. One cannot punish with death someone who committed shoplifting. Above all, one must trust in divine justice.
A supreme commandment of Jesus’ teaching, which other teachers before him had also taught, is the so-called “golden rule”: “Treat others as you would have them treat you. No one likes to suffer outrages, insults, or spoils. If you don’t like to be the victim of these crimes, don’t commit them yourself. We all like kindness, favor received, support in need. Offer to others the goods you like to receive. But Jesus still asks for a little more. Not only should we treat others as we would like to be treated, but we should be even more generous: “If you love only those who love you, what do you do that is extraordinary? Sinners also love those who love them. If you do good only to those who do good to you, what is extraordinary about that? Sinners do the same. In our dealings with one another, we must go beyond justice – which must never be lacking – to mercy.
Jesus gives us God himself as an example: “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful”.
Mercy does not annul justice, it surpasses it, but it does not annul it. Mercy is not to be understood as legitimizing impunity; mercy does not cloud the understanding so that we are unable to distinguish right from wrong. God exercises mercy on the repentant sinner in order to forgive him; but God never forgives in the absence of repentance and 
conversion. God is willing to forgive, and it is God’s willingness to forgive even the most serious sins that arouses the desire for conversion, but one must recognize oneself as a sinner and repent in order to experience God’s mercy. In a positive sense, divine and human mercy are also expressed in the will to do good without expecting a reward. “Do good and lend without expecting human reward.” It is always legitimate to expect God’s reward. Hence the phrase of Jesus:
“Forgive, and you will be forgiven by God. Give, and it will be given to you from God. You will receive from God a good measure, well shaken, pressed down, and running over in the folds of your robe. For with the same measure with which you measure, you will be measured by God at the last judgment.”
These are some of the commandments Jesus gives to those of us who call ourselves his disciples. Since we have the Holy Spirit in us, He has healed our freedom, and the awareness of His love for us is the motivation to act in a new way, more like God’s way of acting than the sinner’s way of acting.