SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A.
19th February 2023
Leviticus 19:1-2,17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48.
‘…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’
How practical is the above statement from Jesus? How can I love the bully who made my high school days a sad memory? How can I love a colleague who betrayed me at work? How can I forgive my ex-husband or wife who dragged me through years of manipulation and mental torture? How can I pray for the person who raped and abused me? How can I love and pray for the shrewd employer who maximizes profit and refuses a pay raise for his employees? How can I pray for those responsible for the current high cost of living crisis? It appears impossible to pray for the people we hate with passion for the pain they inflicted on us. Besides, our inability and unwillingness to pray for them has not healed the our pain. What is the wisdom in loving our enemies and praying for those who persecuted us?
The wisdom in loving and praying for our enemies is found in the action of God. According to the gospel, God causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. This is the wisdom that makes God perfect and he wants us to be perfect as well. Being perfect is the same as being complete or whole. Our completion is achieved by the healing that comes through love and prayer. By loving and praying for our enemies, Jesus wants us to heal the pain caused us rather than dwell in it. Seeking justice is acceptable, but it does not heal the soul. Every healing process begins with acceptance. Acceptance to heal begins with the willingness to pray for our enemies. Our prayer is likely to make them realize the impact of the pain they inflicted on us.
Fr Anthony Ekpunobi, CM.
