Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - Eleventh week of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5, 43-48 - I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: "Love one another, as I have loved you".
Jesus continues his teaching in the mountains. One of the goals for which we are all called is perfection, holiness. And we have a model of this: God the heavenly Father, who loves without distinction. Jesus says, "You therefore shall be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." There are many ways to achieve this. One of those ways is to love without reservation to the point of loving one's enemies. We know how to love those who love us and we also know how to hate those who hate us. Sometimes we even make enemies: those who are different from us in some way.
It is exactly this that Jesus takes up again here: let us love not only those who resemble us, but we must love more by overcoming the barrier of resemblance and belonging, that is to say, let us love those whom we consider and those who consider themselves our enemies. Let us see how we are shown unworthy before God: yet He loves us again and again. Let us remember that weaving a relationship of communion is always difficult when it is so easily undone. However, God wants us to act differently: to be united among ourselves without exception in mutual love. Division, segregation, discrimination... come from evil, the children of the Good that we are cannot walk in the clear and enlightened ways, that is to say, to love like God, without reservation. To love with a love that is open to others.
Here Jesus proposes three steps for us to be truly children of our Heavenly Father: love our enemies, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who slander us. Of course, we are already children of God through baptism, but it is for this belonging to God to be effective that He proposes them to us. So, which ones have we done or succeeded in doing or have we never done? It is not too late to make an effort, and we will see the benefits. It would be better if we practice all three at the same time. Loving one's enemies is an essential virtue of the Christian since it surpasses love of this world and imitates the love of God: one more step towards the perfection for which we are all called.
