The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5 : 44

The sign of a true Christian is to love your enemies. If you love only those who love you, then you are no better than the Mafia or people who embrace lives of corruption.

“What good does it do you if you love only those who love you,” says the Lord. “Even corrupt tax collectors do that” (Matthew 5:46).

True love is hard to find. According to St. John, it consists in this: “that God loved us first and sent His Son to redeem us” (1 John 4:10). What does this mean? Surely, it means that love has its origin in God who is love. He sent us His son, Jesus (Love Incarnate), to redeem us and to model true love for us in the flesh. He is perfect love and sacrifice all wrapped up in one.

God’s love is unconditional. He shows no partiality for “He makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:4). We cannot say we love God who created everyone if we hate our brother or sister whom His Son died for on the cross. If we could put this Christlike love into practice, the world, with all its sin, would be a different place to live in.

The real test of our love for one another is how we treat our enemies, those whom we don’t like, those who are opposed to us or who persecute us. Do you treat them impartially? Can you rise above your feelings of resentment or anger and do the right thing in spite of having been wronged? Can you forgive your enemies? You don’t have to like them, you don’t have to accept their behavior or approve of any of their wrongdoing, but you do have to love them, in spite of what they did wrong. You must forgive and pray for them for they too are children of God.

Loving your enemies is the way to go if you are to create harmony and order in your relationships with others. Abraham Lincoln understood this well. He conquered his enemies, not by hating them, but by making them his friends. That is the mark of a great man. That is the sign of a true Christian.

St. Paul was once an enemy of the followers of Christ, and he hunted them down like animals so he could destroy them, until one day he saw the light. Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus as he was going about his awful mission of terrorizing and apprehending Christians. This erstwhile enemy of Christ was converted, and became a true friend of those whom he once persecuted.

There is a lesson here. We cannot abandon hope, even when it comes to our enemies. God’s merciful love can change the heart of anyone.

You must try to love one another, even your enemies. Pray that you become an instrument of God’s healing spirit, sowing love wherever there is hatred, hope wherever there is despair. Christ died on the cross, not just for you, but for everyone, even your enemies.

That is why Jesus says: “Love your enemies.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy