Love, Mercy, Goodness, Forgiveness

Thursday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: Colossians 3:12-17 & Luke 6: 27 – 38

Reflection Date: September 9, 2021

Jesus is the perfect model of love. He showed the greatness of His love by dying on the cross, forgiving His executioners. By His example and teaching, Jesus proposes that love should always transcend family ties, party spirit, and similarity of interests. It should transcend every feeling of hurt and hatred, should go beyond the search for personal advantage and favorable conditions. The ideal proposed by Jesus is difficult; the difficulties should not be a reason to abandon it, but a motive to make greater efforts. On the one hand, the ideal makes us aware of our smallness, and on the other hand, makes us conscious of our potentials and possibilities.

Jesus did not offer all these instructions as suggestions but commands because they define God's, self-sacrificial love. Jesus Himself, who is love, and He has demonstrated at the cross what love is all about. It is defined by His basic command--loving our enemies (repeated twice in verses 27 & 35). Someone has said that God calls us to love our neighbors and to love our enemies because they are often the same group of people!

But what does "love your enemies/neighbors" entail?

1. Bless them, not curse them.
2. Pray for them--for their health and success, not their death & destruction.
3. Don't return evil for evil--whether it's mistreatment, injury, or robbery.
4. Give to those who ask of you--without expecting any "return on investment".
5. Don't demand anything back from those who stole from us--things are not eternal.
6. Do to others what you want others to do you--this is the Golden Rule.
7. Do not judge & condemn; instead, forgive & give.

Hence, let us transcend the world of egoism, hatred, revenge, and violence to the world of forgiveness, selfishness, and service. That's Christian love to which we are called.

Joseph Cardozo SJ | Contributor