7th Sunday OT - Filling In For Father… by Erin O’Leary
Jesus knew that we human beings are not always going to be loving and merciful. And yet, he loves us completely anyway. That is the good news. Today’s Gospel gives us the challenging news: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Jesus doesn’t leave any doubt about what he is telling us to do and it isn’t an easy task. We naturally associate with those we feel comfortable with, like and love. When possible, we choose to be around those who like, appreciate and love us. In fact, there are several books out about how our “tribal nature” is built into us and causes us to associate with those in our same “tribe” of beliefs, ideology, culture, likes/dislikes, etc. Jesus is telling us to move past this in order to act as he would and imitate the love andmercy God shows us.
While Jesus doesn’t use this word in today’s Gospel challenge, he is truly asking us to operate with radical generosity. To love, to give, to forgive- to anyone and everyone- especially our enemies. Think of the conflicts in our world today and picture these situations with radical generosity being shown instead of divisiveness. Picture loving our enemies even if we don’t always agree with them. This is the kind ofradical Jesus is calling us to be.
Today’s Gospel ends with the reminder that what we give out will come back to us in return. Let us pray this week for the generosity to love our enemies.