Saturday March 11
Enemies are not to be hated, but to be understood. Once we strive to understand what makes them behave the way they do, we will become more compassionate to them. Then we can truly love them, pray for them, and care for them as God the Father does. Jesus demands it in the New Law.
Difficult? Maybe. Impossible? Not at all. Jesus lived it on a daily basis. Mohandas Gandhi showed it in his life, inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus. For Gandhi, no one was an enemy, but everyone was a brother or a sister who needed to be embraced with love. He once wrote: “The goal is not to bring your enemy to his knees but to his senses.” And when the enemy comes to his senses and we come to ours, both parties may recognize their shared humanity and brotherhood, and love may be born.
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The antithesis of the Sermon on the Mount specifies the Christian way by challenging the law of Moses with the message of Christ. The commandment of love also includes the enemy and the persecutor, even questioning the spontaneous act of self-defense. Christ proposes the radical path of forgiveness, non-violence, divine generosity, which overcome revenge and calculation. It is a high ideal to which every Christian must aim: it is an attempt to imitate God. It opens an infinite path before our eyes: the commitment to move relentlessly towards perfect love.