Readings Deut 26:16-19; Ps 118; Mt
5:43-48
Jesus in the gospel perfected
the Old Testament law. He commands us to do two of the most difficult things
man could try—loving our enemies and being perfect. Loving our enemies is risky.
Perfection is an attribute of God, not finite beings. However, Jesus will not
command us to do these if they are impossibilities. Being perfect is a step by
step enterprise and a heroic mission. One of the steps to perfection, in fact,
is loving our enemies. He is not asking us to love the injuries, hatred,
insults, and mal-treatments of our enemies. Rather, He is asking us to Love the
sinner but hate the sin; to love the image of God that the person carries. It is
the grace of God that can help us accomplish this.
The psalmist has it that “happy are they who follow the law of the
Lord” (Ps 118). Meaning that those who follow this law of “loving enemies” (which
is law of forgiveness) are happy. This is very practical. If you don’t forgive, you have your life, events
and history chained to your enemy. If you don’t forgive you let those that
wounded you in the past hold you victim, dictate your present and control your
future. Don’t live in the ruins your enemies have put you into. To forgive the unforgiving
and the unforgivable is a heroic act because “the weak cannot forgive. Forgiveness
is an attribute of the strong”.
In this Lenten period, we are called to break
those shackles and fetters of anger holding us motionless around our neck; we
would be happier than we can imagine. It is forgiveness that helps us put up
with difficult conditions in life caused by those around us. When we forgive,
the hater will start loving, the proud will be humbled. We can pull down the
walls of prejudice and bridge the yawning gap between us and others. Our enemies
are nothing but friends who are still very far from us and who are waiting for
an opportunity to be forgiven. Practically, enemies do not exist where love
exists. “The law of the Lord is perfect…happy are they who follow the law of
the Lord”.
