Not enemies, but brothers and sisters.
Listening the Spirit
Pray the prayers of the Lord with the faith of being His beloved child.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Listening the Word: Luke 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 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.”
Reflection
“Love your enemies”.
The command that Jesus gives us today is very hard. Personally, I am convinced that it is
impossible to love enemies. Either we hate them, or we fear them, or both.
Maybe we also despise them, but we can never love them.
If so, how can we obey this command of Jesus? Is it possible that he gave us a task that is beyond
our capacities? Of course not. But then, how can we fulfil this command?
Well, we must stop calling people “enemies”. We must keep it in mind that those whom we
consider as our enemies are, in fact, our brothers and sisters.
We are all children of God, therefore we are all brothers and sisters. Although some people may
wrong us or harm us, they are still children of God as we are, and therefore they are still our
brothers and sisters.
If we keep this in mind we will stop hating them and our heart will be open to compassion. After
all, people who do evil are not only hurting others, they are hurting themselves as well, because
they close their hearts to God’s love. They should be pitied, not hated.
Therefore the first step in fulfilling this command from Jesus is to avoid considering others as
enemies. Let’s try to do that, and we will truly be “children of the Most High” as Jesus promised.
Reflection Questions
1. How does recognizing others—especially those who hurt us—as our brothers and sisters change the way we respond to them?
2. What practical steps can we take to stop seeing people as enemies and instead open our hearts to compassion and forgiveness?
