“ Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Matt 5:43-44 (KJV)
According to the Gospel, we should love Putin and the Russian soldiers who commit war crimes, the Catholic politicians who push pro-abortion policies, and the Main Stream Media pundits who praise their efforts. Or maybe not?.
Let’s consider what “love” means in the context of the quote. Going to the Greek New Testament, we find “thou shalt love” = “ Ἀγαπήσεις” and “Love” = “ἀγαπᾶτε.” This kind of love is “agape,” which is the highest form of love, as C.S. Lewis explained in his “Four Loves.” It is more than affection, friendship or romantic love. It corresponds to the Latin translation, “caritas,” or charity, as in 1 Corinthians 13:13
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
So, how then should we “ἀγαπᾶτε” our enemies? I am reminded of Fr. Bernard Groeschel’s prayer for Madonna, that she be converted and go to a secluded nunnery. We do not have to like or respect our enemies, but we do have to pray for the best that can happen to them, their conversion. In wishing that they change their ways, we offer love as an act of will. Such love does not yield the warm fuzzies that the other three forms do, but it is akin to the unconditional love that Christ has for us. This is the Divine Mercy love shown in St. Faustina’s painting. Christ loves the Pharisees, even though he knows their sins:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” Matt 23:27 (KJV)
Now, The Enemy tempts us to not follow the Gospel. The great sin of the left is not that they hate, they corrupt, they lie, they abuse, they traduce, they pervert, they abort, they philander, they euthanize. It is rather, that by their sins they push us into the arms of The Enemy. Their actions are so foul that they move us to forget what Christ told us: Love your enemies and bless them that curse you.
And our blessings should be sincere. Hard though it is to do, each evening in the intercessions I offer at Zoom rosary meetings I pray for the conversion of my enemies. and that they and I follow Christ’s teaching.
Thanks, Dr. K.
The very first Mass I attended as a convert, before the RCIA class even began, was in July of 2004. The homily, which as a soon-to-be-former-Protestant I called a sermon, was on this exact theme. Father opened by asking “How does the Lord expect me to love the men who committed the 9/11 atrocities?” He went on pretty much as your post does, to make this excellent point. You might say it made an impression on me, since I still recall it all these years later. It’s one of our greatest challenges, isn’t it?
What makes loving our enemies so hard is that we often buy into the false notion that in order to love our enemies we have to like them.
Love of enemies is essential lest we be consumed by hate, ever the primary tool of Satan.
thanks Greg and Don for your comments…that’s just what I said in the post.