Happy birthday today to my wife Sheila !
One of the most difficult things for me is to love my enemies ! I try not to hate them, but to go beyond that and actually love them. Wow that’s hard. When someone I consider my enemy or a really bad person enters the room I’m in, I will not lash out at them but usually try to ignore them or simply leave the room. I would not cause a scene so as to embarrass them or myself.
But what If God asked me to go over to that person and greet them warmly. Even worse, what if he asked me to go tell them God loves them. That would be a huge challenge for me. But this is what Jesus meant today when he told us to love our enemies. He says that I love that person as completely as I love you. He also challenges us to love as completely and unconditionally as he does.
That’s what makes Christians different from any other religion in the world. Not to treat people as they deserve, but as God wishes to treat them with mercy and loving kindness. God’s love embraces the Saint and the sinner. He is good to the just and the unjust. He says to us; “for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
St. Joseph, pray for us !
DeColores, Deacon Doug
