“But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.”

matthew 5:44

Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection

Jesus tells his disciples they must love their enemies and pray for the people who persecute them. The Father allows the sun to rise on the good and bad. Likewise, Jesus says even the tax collectors love those who love them; the disciples must strive to do better and be perfect as the Father is perfect.

Another difficult teaching of Jesus’ to act out: loving our enemies. The reason someone is an enemy is because of the wrong they have committed against you – how can we love them? But Jesus is once again calling us higher and asking us to be virtuous, even to those who don’t deserve it.

God’s mercy is evident in this Gospel. The sun rises and rain falls on all types of people – evil and holy. God has mercy on everyone, even if they don’t deserve it. He tells us we must do the same. This is why we have to love our enemies. Not doing so doesn’t make us better, it only shows our natural tendency towards vice rather than virtue.

Pray for the grace to love those who are especially difficult to love in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in mercy and lead a virtuous life.

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Saint of the Day

St. Emily de Vialar: 1797 – 1856

“The spirit of this Congregation is to dedicate the Sisters to the practice of the different works of charity…. They dwell frequently on the adorable wounds of the Saviour, so that, reflecting unceasingly on the love of God for men, they maintain and increase each day the sentiments of compassion and zeal with which they must be animated towards their fellow men.” St. Emily