Seventh Sunday in ordinary time. Today’s readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48.
The verdict is out. If Jesus were a social media influencer nowadays, I’d guess he would lose all his followers with what he says in today’s gospel. His words, I reckon, might not even be taken up by the algorithms. His content would score highly on reliability but would lose marks on the appeal vote.
Seriously, what teacher, while seeking to gather more disciples around them, would encourage their followers to do something as repulsive as loving one’s enemies, and not expect a dip in popularity?
Yet Jesus does not shy away from laying down a law that is too radical for fear of not being well received. He actually makes it a point to show that the teaching to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” is not supererogatory. It is the kernel of what it means to be a Christian.
With his new teaching, which brings to its fullness the Law of the Old Testament, Jesus is, first and foremost, revealing who God really is, and that it is only in obeying this command “that (we) may be children of our heavenly Father”. It turns out that the criterion of our sonship is love of enemies, and not any other percept.
Jesus might come across as utopic at best or naive at worst for suggesting something so bold; and perhaps as unreasonable too. Indeed, how could a spouse who has suffered domestic violence for years and who has finally managed to break free, take Jesus’s words to heart? Are we to expect a family that has lost their loved ones fighting a senseless war to really love its enemies?
To love one’s enemy does not mean that one must become their doormat. Many times, to love one’s enemies might also mean to take the necessary steps for the person to change their attitude.
A Knock at Midnight, a collection of 11 of Martin Luther King Jr’s most powerful and spiritual sermons.Perhaps no one said it better than Martin Luther King Jr in his book A Knock at Midnight. He who carried the weight of oppression, including that of all black people, in his own skin, preached not only non-violence, but even love for the oppressors. “Love is creative understanding goodwill for all men,” he affirms. “It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.”
When you rise to the level of love, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love- Martin Luther King Jr
Loving one’s enemy and praying for those by whom one is persecuted does not imply closing an eye, or even less, being complacent to their violent demands. Neither does it mean that revenge must be meted out against them.
To love one’s enemies means doing whatever is needed to help the enemy grow out of their hostile attitude. There are different ways in which this can be reached in practice, depending on the circumstances, and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Each situation demands a particular way of loving one’s enemy. The key, however, is that the motivation must not be to stop being persecuted by the other, but love for the other person. This is no easy feat.
The Vietnamese bishop Nguyen Van Thuan (1928-2002) knew well what it meant to have enemies. In the late 1970s he was arrested by the communist government and jailed for 13 years, nine of them in solitary confinement. Yet he did not give in to the temptation of hatred of the enemy. Van Thuan recounts how he would love the guards at his cell by greeting them kindly, by showing gladness and by smiling. Eventually some of them even asked him to teach them different languages. The prison atmosphere changed in a way that he never expected, and from enemies they eventually became friends.