A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:43-48
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,
that 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.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect,* just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
REFLECTION: But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.
For the last few days, Jesus has been exhorting us to love our enemies.
I think I have a hard time with this teaching because most of the time I see myself more of a "victim", and not a "hater".
This happens to me a lot, specially at work. Some people are simply too difficult to work with. Sometimes I even think they go out of their way to be difficult. And Just the thought of picking the phone, or sending them an email gives me a mild headache.
It takes a great effort to think that maybe their managers are putting extra pressure on them. That maybe they are sick, or have problems at home. It really takes a lot of praying and awareness to try to make friends of my enemies.
Do I succeed every time? Absolutely not.
But I try. I want to keep trying. I pray to God to continue, to bring the smile of Jesus to every person I meet.
Dear Lord help me love my enemies, in the same way You love me too.
