Hearing The Word

A weekly newsletter delivering context and insight into the Sunday Gospels.

Following Jesus Example of Loving

~ Deacon Louis Hoelzle

Saint Teresa of Calcutta + Limerick, Pa.

In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus at the beginning of His public ministry. He has just finished the Sermon on the Plain, where has he introduced a new way of life .. 

The people expected their messiah to be a warrior, driving out the Romans, restoring their country to greatness and ridding them of rulers who do not practice what they preach. Instead, they hear him modifying the law of Moses which has governed their lives, their actions, and their relationship for centuries. When Jesus says, “Love your enemies," what is he really saying? 

An enemy is not just one who wants to do us harm. It could be someone who annoys us or challenges our beliefs. Jesus is not talking about a passionate love or an emotional love, but a benevolent love – an active love. Jesus is asking us to adopt a new attitude in our relationship with others, to adopt a standard of behavior in human relationships that contradicts “Do unto others as they would do unto you.” Instead, Jesus tells us to act with kindness and forgiveness to friend or foe. This is not an act of the heart but an act of the will with the intention of breaking the cycle of anger, hatred and resentment between people because when we hold onto those emotions, we become slaves to them. They are inserted into our thoughts and become burdens on our spiritual lives. 

Jesus showed us how to love and let go on the cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” We are called to follow Jesus’ example and love actively, intentionally and indiscriminately.

Prayer: A Starting Place

~ Anonymous

Well if this isn’t the most challenging of Jesus’ gospels I don’t know what is. 

The first task for me is to understand who the “enemy” really is, and of course it’s not necessarily military opponents, as the name enemy might suggest.  Sometimes it’s people or situations dashing my expectation of how the world should be, thus taking away my feeling of control. This can annoy, disappoint, or even infuriate. 

The “enemy” here might be fleeting, like the bank that gives me a chatbot instead of a person. Or the people I need to work with who reject my opinion. Sometimes (thankfully this is rare) the adversary is someone I really love who does something they know will hurt me deeply but they do it anyway. Then, I want to lash out, or at least dig in for a long-term grudge.

But Jesus almost pummels us in this reading with directions about what to do instead. He asks for what at least for me seems a super-human response. I find it hard in the thick of things to substitute feelings of love, kindness, forgiveness and generosity for churning emotions. But the reading does give me something concrete I can do: I can “pray for my enemies.” So that's what I try to do, when I remember to do it, of course. It may be a grudging prayer, even an insincere one at first, but I can do it.

Sometimes this allows me a period of cooling off, a chance to rest my brain. Sometimes it allows me to look at a person differently and more humanly – more lovingly. Sometimes it lets me learn more about myself and my possible culpability in a situation.

Thus, for me, prayer for those who have caused me hurt is the best – and sometimes the only – starting place.