Love your enemies, are you kidding?

Jesus instructs us in today’s gospel to love our enemies and pray for them. The message is very simple, but the practice of such a directive involves so much more. Someone I do not like or get along with doesn’t inspire in me the spark I need to love them. That someone is a person I want to avoid, not shower with love.

But hold on, Jesus is not kidding! 

Remember Mark 12:31 and the Great Commandment? “The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Wow! I need to rethink the love I have for myself then, because I am blind to someone I do not like. That blindness towards my unloved neighbor is brought to light by His commandment. It is a blindness that keeps me from loving my neighbor, myself and God. In today’s gospel, I am reminded that God, who is pure love and light in this world, wants me to see the pure love and light of God in every person, especially the ones I do not like.

Our journey takes us many places, but the final destination is the only one we should be focused on. We must all find a way to humble ourselves as Jesus did by dying on the cross for us. We should strive to live as Jesus instructs us in today’s gospel, to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”. We are charged with actively loving our enemies and praying for them in order to reach that final destination. So what are we waiting for? Let’s shine our light and spread pure love for everyone today and always. Love your enemies and pray for them, after all, they will be praying for you.

Author: Diane Camara, Registrar