First Reading (1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23). David turns down an opportunity to kill Saul because he believes it would not be right before God.
Second Reading (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Paul draws parallels between Adam and Christ: to Adam we owe the life of earth; to Christ the life of heaven.
Gospel (Luke 6:27-38). Jesus stresses the duty of loving one’s enemy and the obligations of fraternal charity.

Because of his great successes on the battlefield, David was very popular with the people. As a result, Saul saw him as a threat and sought to kill him. The First Reading contains the moving story of how David had an opportunity to kill Saul, but refused to do so because in his eyes Saul, as king of Israel, was a sacred person.

This passage prepares us for the Gospel, which contains Jesus’ injunction to love our enemies. Jesus goes on to stress the obligations of charity. The ideal of love to which his followers must aspire is that of God himself. We are to love as God loves.

Jesus’ vision of human behaviour is at such variance with the view most people have, that many people regard it as humanly unachievable, and therefore ignore it. From a human point of view it is unachievable. We must rely on the grace of God.