Love Your Enemies, and pray for them...?

Mass Readings & Reflection for Thursday 12 September 2013

Thursday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time
The Most Holy Name of Mary

Coloss. 3:12-17.

Brothers and sisters: put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.  And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And always be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ps 150(149):1-2.3-4.5-6.

Praise the LORD in His sanctuary,
Praise him in the firmament of his strength.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
Praise him for his sovereign majesty.

Praise him with the blast of the trumpet,
Praise him with lyre and harp,
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
Praise him with strings and pipe.

Praise him with sounding cymbals,
Praise him with clanging cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
Praise the LORD! Alleluia.

Lk 6:27-38.

Jesus said to his disciples : "To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit (is) that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful.
Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."


 Commentary of the day :
 

This is without a doubt the most difficult of Jesus' statements to follow.

How can you love someone who abuses you, or curses you, hits you, lies about you or even kills one of your family? But Jesus expects His followers to trust that its the best way.

I have met so many people who were victims of abuse or were imprisoned during war and the ones who amaze me are those survivors who have said, "But I forgive him.."

They are no longer victims, they are victors. They have proven to me that they are better human beings than I could ever be. They are able to understand that only when you allow yourself to let of your pain or hurt, will you set your pride free and in so doing, you will gain a happiness and peace that can not be taken away.

If there is someone you have been deeply hurt by, try today to take a few moments to pray for them. I have, and already I feel better..

As one wise person told me (and is quoted in my upcoming book, "Being Good Enough"):

Holding a grudge and seeking revenge is like burning down your house to kill a rat.

Now read what Pope John Paul II had to say:

 

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful"

There are many passages in the teaching of Christ that manifest love-mercy under some ever-fresh aspect. We need only consider the Good Shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep (Mt 18,12s; Lk 15,3f) or the woman who sweeps the house in search of the lost coin (Lk 15,8f.). The Gospel writer who particularly treats of these themes in Christ's teaching is Luke, whose Gospel has earned the title of "the Gospel of mercy"...

Christ, in revealing the love - mercy of God, at the same time demanded from people that they also should be guided in their lives by love and mercy. This requirement forms part of the very essence of the messianic message, and constitutes the heart of the Gospel ethos. The Teacher expresses this both through the medium of the commandment which He describes as "the greatest” (Mt 22,38), and also in the form of a blessing, when in the Sermon on the Mount He proclaims: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5,7).

In this way, the messianic message about mercy preserves a particular divine-human dimension. Christ - the very fulfillment of the messianic prophecy - by becoming the incarnation of the love that is manifested with particular force with regard to the suffering, the unfortunate and sinners, makes present and thus more fully reveals the Father, who is God "rich in mercy" (Eph 2,4). At the same time, by becoming for people a model of merciful love for others, Christ proclaims by His actions even more than by His words that call to mercy which is one of the essential elements of the Gospel ethos. In this instance it is not just a case of fulfilling a commandment or an obligation of an ethical nature; it is also a case of satisfying a condition of major importance for God to reveal Himself in His mercy to man: "The merciful...shall obtain mercy."