Love of Enemies

Today's Reflections

                               

 

     

Love of Enemies 

 

Mt 5:43-48

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that 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. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? ⁴⁸So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Reflection:

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus exhorts his followers (us!) to be like our heavenly Father. We become perfect by love. But our love itself must be perfected. It is not enough to love those who love us and those who are our relatives or kababayans (countrymen). Love like that is to be expected. But we are to love even those who are not good to us and those who do evil to us. Now, that is unusual, but that is the way God loves: God loves the good and the bad alike, and if we are to be like him, we must love those whom God loves.

This is a hard saying, and the world does not practice it. But it is the only one that will work.

Be a true child of God.

Love everyone, even your enemies.

You will be much happier.