Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues his “revolution of tenderness” in how he teaches Christians to understand what it means to love. The old standard, the more human standard, was to love your neighbors and hate your enemies. There is a justice in that that is immediately apparent and logical. Jesus, however, pushes his followers further with a theo-logic of divine love. “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly father.”
Love always needs an anchor, and Christ is that which anchors love for a Christian. This means that to love will include loving those who hate you, not just those who love you. It will mean loving those who ignore you, who overlook you, who demean you, and who insult you. In a sense, one’s love is purified in these encounters, purified from a pure human love to a Christ-like love. Today, in your prayer, bring to the Lord what inspires you about this new command and what challenges you about it. Ask the Lord to give you the courage to love in this way to those around you.