In his sermon on the mount, Jesus commands his followers to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them. (Matt 5: 44) I have often found this challenging, not because it is so hard for me to love my enemies, but rather because I find it hard to think of anyone in particular that I consider as an enemy. I can’t think of any specific person that I hate or anyone who is persecuting me. In the light of this it would be easy to dismiss this command as simply not applying to me and to move on.
However, sitting with this verse and asking the Lord to reveal how it does apply to me, who it is that I might consider my enemy and therefore need to pray for, led me to consider Jesus’s words about tax collectors and sinners entering the Kingdom of God before the sons of Israel. (Matt 21:31) Tax collectors represented the oppressive Roman government and I would be lying if I claimed to have never said, “I hate the government.” What is my response to those people who use their power to divide, corrupt, and break down society? Is Jesus asking me to love those who push agendas that violate the truth and degrade the human person?
Once I began thinking in these terms the floodgates opened. What about the leaders of the abortion industry, the lawmakers who support them, and those who capitalize on the murder of innocent children? Speaking of innocent children, what about those who are involved in sex trafficking? Wouldn’t I consider them my enemies? And if so, do I really believe that God wants me to love them?
Yes, on both counts. Those engaged in and promoting these heinous, vicious acts are my enemies. I am opposed to their behaviors, rightly so, and should fight against them. But I am also called to love them, to pray for them, just in the same way that the earliest Christians were called to love and pray for those opposed to them in the highly corrupt, pagan culture of their time. To understand this command though, we must first understand what it means to love someone.
Love is not about feeling a certain way, it is not primarily an emotional response. Love, despite popular assertions, also doesn’t mean agreeing with or affirming everything the other person does or believes. If that were the case it would not be possible for me to love those people that I mentioned above as I certainly do not agree with either their behaviors or their ideologies. Love means to will and to seek the good of the other. With this definition in mind, it becomes quite possible to love the enemy since desiring their good is desiring their conversion. This is what God desires as well. (Ezekiel 33:11) Jesus died to free us from sin and death and all are called to repentance, to turn from evil, and receive His mercy.
Perhaps you have had the same struggle as me when trying to identify your enemies, those you are to pray for regardless of how you feel about them- or maybe precisely because of how you feel about them. If that is the case, I’d like to share with you a few more types of people that came to mind for me. These are people who, while not being engaged in clearly evil behavior, provoke negative judgements in my mind and who I am much more likely to encounter in my daily life: the rude driver, the person who unnecessarily prolongs a meeting by asking questions no one else cares about, the ladies in the pew behind me who are carrying on a loud whisper conversation when I am trying to pray, or the one who sits down next to me in adoration when there are other spots available. How do I respond to these irritations? Am I quick to judge, grumble, criticize? Sometimes. Which is why the Lord’s command absolutely does apply to me. I am the one who needs to grow in charity. Today, Lord, grant me the grace to love and to pray.
Prose for the sake of Poetry 