20200307
THE
HALLMARK OF CHRISTIAN LOVE IS LOVING OUR ENEMIES
07 March, 2020,
Saturday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Deuteronomy 26:16-19 ©
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You will be a people consecrated to the Lord
Moses said to the
people: ‘The Lord your God today commands you to observe these laws and
customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your
soul.
‘You
have today made this declaration about the Lord: that he will be your God, but
only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his
ordinances, and listen to his voice. And the Lord has today made this
declaration about you: that you will be his very own people as he promised you,
but only if you keep all his commandments; then for praise and renown and
honour he will set you high above all the nations he has made, and you will be
a people consecrated to the Lord, as he promised.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 118(119):1-2,4-5,7-8 ©
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They
are happy who follow God’s law!
They
are happy whose life is blameless,
who
follow God’s law!
They
are happy who do his will,
seeking
him with all their hearts.
They
are happy who follow God’s law!
You
have laid down your precepts
to
be obeyed with care.
May
my footsteps be firm
to
obey your statutes.
They
are happy who follow God’s law!
I
will thank you with an upright heart
as
I learn your decrees.
I
will obey your statutes;
do
not forsake me.
They
are happy who follow God’s law!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Lk8:15
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Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Blessed
are those who,
with
a noble and generous heart,
take
the word of God to themselves
and
yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Or:
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2Co6:2
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Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Now
is the favourable time:
this
is the day of salvation.
Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Matthew 5:43-48 ©
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Pray for those who persecute you
Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You
must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of
your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as
good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love
those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax
collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your
brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do
they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is
perfect.’
THE HALLMARK OF
CHRISTIAN LOVE IS LOVING OUR ENEMIES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ DT 26:16-19; PS 119:1-2,4-5,7-8; MT 5:43-48]
Just like the
Israelites, Christians are called to be the People of God. In His mercy
and goodness, He has chosen us to be His people. Of course, an agreement
is required on our part. This was the case of the Israelites. “Today
the Lord has obtained your agreement: to be his treasured people, as
he promised you, and to keep his commandments; for him to set you high
above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for
you to be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”
(Dt 26:18f)
Holiness simply means to
be set apart for the glory of God. In other words, we are called to be different.
Christians must be distinguished from the world in the way we live our lives,
humbly, selflessly, altruistic in our values and in the way we treat our
fellowmen, with charity and compassion. This is what the Lord means when
He calls us all to be perfect. “You must therefore be perfect just as your
heavenly Father is perfect.” Obviously, this is not a perfection in terms
of power and majesty. It is the perfection in charity. The
highest form of charity is to love our enemies. Jesus said in the gospel,
“You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your
enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you.”
Loving our enemies is
something that goes against our fallen human nature. The natural response towards our
enemies is to hate them and even wish them harm. We want to destroy our
enemies, hurt them as much as they have hurt us. We like to see our
enemies suffer the pain we have suffered ourselves. Until we see them humiliated,
destroyed and even killed, we are not satisfied. Revenge is deep in the
hearts of man, although we tend to justify our vindictiveness by camouflaging
it as the demand for justice. In truth we can seek justice without being
revengeful. Justice is to put things right and restore the rights of all.
If we hate our enemies
and seek revenge, then we are no different from the rest of humanity. Jesus said, “For if you love those
who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors
do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are
you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not?”
Loving those who love us is the most natural thing in life. One does not
need to be a Christian to love those who love us. This spontaneous
response of love is deeply ingrained in our hearts. Only a few very
ungrateful people will receive love without giving back. Even then, it is
because they are hurt and wounded. But if we love them enough, their
hearts will open up and they will also be able to respond in love.
What does it mean to
love our enemies? It means that we do not condemn the person but only the
sin. Our fight is not
against persons per se but against evil. We must learn to distinguish
between the sin and the sinner. Often the sinner is ignorant,
indoctrinated with falsehood or wounded in life. Hence, he is vicious,
angry and resentful of the world. Blinded by their ignorance, they see
evil as good. Often, they are contaminated by the values of the world
that promote individualism, me-first philosophy, selfishness and
self-centeredness. This leads to the sin of pride, arrogance and
materialism. So, we should not be attacking our enemies but the falsehood
and evil. Like Jesus, we are called to reject sin but with respect to the
sinner, we are asked to always forgive and to desire that our enemies and
sinners will one day see the truth and walk in the way of authentic love.
Christ has no desire to see His enemies punished. In fact, when He was on
the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are
doing.” (Lk 23:34) He not only forgave His
enemies, He prayed for them and made excuses for them. To the adulterous
woman, He said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not
sin again.” (Jn 8:11)
For this reason, all the
early Christian martyrs walked the path of our Lord. They did not defend themselves or
start a rebellion. They submitted to the legitimate authority who did not
know Christ and the Christian Faith. St Stephen and the rest of the
apostles followed after our Lord. St Stephen the First Martyr reenacted
the death of our Lord, going through all He went through, repeating the same
words of our Lord towards his enemies. This is why the distinguishing
mark of a Christian goes beyond mere charity and forgiveness. Christian
charity is a call to love our enemies as the Lord loved them.
What is the motive for
Christian suffering and forgiveness for our enemies? Firstly, it is for
our salvation. Our
enemies actually are our best spiritual benefactors. There is no greater
way to sanctify ourselves than to suffer unjustly for the love of our
Lord. This was what St Peter wrote, “For it is a credit to you if, being
aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when
you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you
do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you
have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example,
so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no
deceit was found in his mouth.’ When he was abused, he did not return
abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the
one who judges justly.” (1 Pt 2:19-23)
Secondly, it is for their
salvation. “For
it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than
to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for
all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God” (1 Pt 3:18) As Christians we suffer
unjustly by not retaliating against our enemies, not because we are
pacifists. On the contrary, our motive is for their conversion and
salvation. We pray that by our example of forgiveness, we can win over
hardened hearts. Saving their souls and turning them to the path of truth
and goodness is our motivation in loving our enemies. Just as St Stephen
changed the heart of Saul into Paul, who then became a great apostle to the
gentiles, so too when we conquer our enemies with love, we will transform them
to be great apostles of our Lord.
How, then, can we love
our enemies? Precisely, it is not something within our power! We
need the grace of God to love our enemies. Only God can give us the capacity to love
and forgive like Him through the passion, death and resurrection of His Son and
through the infilling of the Spirit of His love. Indeed, love is
the answer to overcome our hatred for our enemies. We need to be filled
with God’s love before we can impart that love. Only through the
reception of His mercy and forgiveness for our own sins can we do likewise in
extending this forgiveness and mercy especially to our enemies. As it is
said, “to err is human, to forgive is divine.” Only the contemplation of
God’s unconditional and triumphant love on the cross and the resurrection of Christ
can give us the courage, perseverance, impetus and humility to accept the
sufferings joyfully inflicted by our enemies. This is what makes us
different from the world. Christians do not take revenge. “Do not
repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a
blessing. It is for this that you were called – that you might inherit a
blessing.” (1 Pt 3:9) St Paul
urges us to leave vengeance to the Lord. (cf Rom 12:19-21)
In this way, we become
truly the sons and daughters of God because we bear His image and
likeness. This
is what the Lord assures us, “In this way you will be sons of your Father in
heaven, for he causes the sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain
to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.” Since we are all made in His
image and likeness, God loves everyone. Like any parent, we feel most for
those children of ours who are wayward, lost, ignorant and hurting
themselves. So, too, is the way God treats the prodigal son and
daughter. Holiness of life is to reflect the life and love of God in
us. Loving and forgiving our enemies means that we have transcended
ourselves and our enemies. We have become like God who is not focused on
His pain and His suffering but on ours. So to love like the Lord, we must
always be contemplating on His love for us all. Indeed, we repay evil
with goodness.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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