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"
Saint Matthew is giving us in this Gospel a very tough teaching from Our Lord.
He is not telling us to forget the evil that is done to us. But to love them.
We read in 1 Pet 3:9: "Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing."
Also, Saint Paul in1 Cor 4:12 tells us: "and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure."
And in Rom 12:14: "Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse them."
But, how to bless those who hate us? who persecute us?
We at PAPA have a philosophy called PSB?
This is an acronym for Pray, Serve, Bless.
We Pray to Our Lord, heart-to-heart about others and their needs. Both in words and in silence.
We pray daily to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to make our heart like His. We pray to the Holy Spirit, to illuminate and guide us. And we pray for those who love us, and for those who hate and persecute us.
We Serve with our Prayers, especially the PAPA Prayer for Priests. We serve with our Words, by encouraging others, especially priests to be saints. And by Deeds, giving our Time, Talent, and Treasure.
And we Bless, no matter what happens. We choose to bless everything and everyone - whether they are good or ill.
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