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The Challenge of Christian Love
March 3, 2007
Love Has the Ultimate Triumph.
Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Father Matthew Green, LC
Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, in this Lenten season, I want to draw closer to you. I believe that you truly became one of us to save us as an act of love beyond all human understanding. I know I can count on you to carry me through each day. I know that in all circumstances you are with me. I want to love you more than myself and say “yes” to your will in every moment. I trust totally in your grace. Thank you, Lord! This Lent, I want to learn to love you more as you deserve by being the person you want me to be. Petition: Lord, take my imperfect love and transform it with your grace so I can faithfully serve God the Father all the days of my life! 1. Loving the Unlovable. Today’s Gospel brings home an essential theme of Christianity: our need to love other people as key to Christian life and as imitation of God. In fact, here Jesus equates with perfection an unconditional love for all people, even – or especially – for the least lovable, our enemies and persecutors. God the Father loves everyone without regard for the way we treat him. That’s why he sent his Son to redeem us. If we truly want to be his children we must love like he does, to the best of our ability. 2. Love Has the Ultimate Triumph. Loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us is a difficult, often unrequited and often misunderstood approach to reality. Our society often advocates revenge and emphasizes justice at the cost of mercy and forgiveness – just think of the number of lawsuits in our courts. The attitude that Christ asks of us could be perceived as weakness by some people and is not likely to bear immediate visible fruit. Yet Christ put it into practice: he, who could have annihilated his detractors and called twelve legions of angels to slay his captors, never resorted to wrathful tirades. He would have been justified at times to be angry, but he kept his focus on conversion and only resorted to occasional verbal rebukes when it was for the good of the person receiving it. Yet his mercy and good will was met with derision and death. But as we know, Good Friday is followed by Easter and in the end, he triumphed through the Resurrection. The triumphs of hate are always illusory and short-lived; the triumph of love lasts forever. 3. Through Him, with Him and in Him. Jesus ends his discourse with the mandate to “be perfect, just as your heavenly father is perfect.” That might seem like an impossible command to fulfill – and, in fact, it would be, if we were unaided by grace. Fortunately, we are not alone in this effort. Jesus, by living God’s will perfectly – even unto death on a cross – has won for us the grace we need, and sent us the Holy Spirit as our guide. Throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit directs the apostles and disciples as they spread the Good News throughout the known world. That relatively small group of followers within generations conquered the entire Roman Empire without lifting a sword, because nothing is impossible for God. If we have that same confidence and docility to the Holy Spirit, he will help us be true sons of God, ever approaching the ideal of perfection in love. Dialogue with Christ: Lord, the standard of love you ask of me is truly beyond my capabilities and is humanly difficult to understand. Your example shows me the power of this love to transform lives and hearts and ultimately to bring peace. I trust in your grace to transform me, and in the Holy Spirit to guide me in putting your words into action. This Lent, help me to grow towards that ideal of perfect charity, and to continue that growth throughout my life. Resolution: Today I will say a prayer for those whom I find most difficult to love.
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