John Desing csc –
Readings: 1Kgs 21:17-29; Mt 5: 3-48
An enemy exists only in one’s mind. In the first reading, we find Ahab saying to Elijah, “Have you found me, Oh my enemy!”
Definitely, Elijah is not the enemy. But for Ahab, he is an enemy.
In fact, Elijah was just a mouthpiece of God telling him to repent from evils he had done. Similarly, in our lives too enemies are not really foes.
They are merely challenges, competitors, pointers, and reminders that we need to grow. Why do we hate some people and love others? We love those who love us, those who speak good about us, who never contradict us. And we hate those who we think are dangerous to our lives. By nature, children resemble parents’ personality, by and large.
If parents are good, children also are good basically. This analogy is strongly seen in today’s Jesus’ statement saying that in order to be children of the Father in heaven we need to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
It is indeed a challenge to love those who constantly hurt us and who cause us pain. We are called to love and pray for them so that in doing so, we become true children of the Father. To be able to love our enemies, we need an extraordinary gift of forgiveness from God.
Retaliation is what the world teaches us today. This is the characteristic of a beast who knows only to react and attack. But as humans gifted with loving grace, we are capable of loving others.