Eleventh Tuesday of Ordinary Time

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.

Jesus’ teachings push us to go beyond living lives of righteousness and justice to lives of love and mercy. He asks us to love those who persecute us. He challenges us to love those people we dislike the most. He points out that loving those who love us is easy and should be expected. If we truly want to prove ourselves to God, then we must put aside our pride and emotions and choose to love those who hate us and whom we are tempted to hate. God loves all His children, no matter how disfigured by sin and selfishness and if we want to live Christ-like lives that are worthy of eternal happiness with God, then we too must love others with the same unwavering will.

Do we love those who persecute us? How can we learn to love those whom we dislike? What can we do to temper our righteousness and justice with love and mercy?

O Lord, help us to love all your children, even those whom are our enemies.

Amen.