Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - Tuesday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 21:17-29 and Matt 5:43-48]"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......So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. [Matthew]
Scholars have studied the various religious and ethical cultures that existed in the Middle East in Old Testament times and compared them with Jesus' teachings. Many things were found that are similar, but Jesus is unique in one respect. He challenges us to love our enemy!! He says that when we do this, we are showing the same kind of love that God has for all people. The Greek word that is translated as "perfect" in English has the meaning of "complete" or "wholeness." If we wish to love as Jesus loves us, we have to love our enemy.
One does not have to be at war to have an enemy. Anyone we see as "alien" or "other" in a fearful or negative way becomes an "enemy" in the gospel understanding. The current demonstrations over racial discrimination may have policing behavior as a focus, but they are about a lot more than police behavior, just as the demonstrations many of us older folks remember from the time of the Vietnam War. Discrimination of a negative kind, by definition, declares a person or group of persons as an "enemy." The tragic and terrible history of slavery, destruction of Native Americans, exclusion of Asian peoples or any non-Anglo ethnic group that marks our country's story and is being featured in the current protests is a reminder that we who are Christians need to do a far better job of living Jesus' teachings.
The Last Judgment scene in the Gospel According to Matthew (25:31-45) tells us how we will be judged at the end of time. It could be a difficult but necessary exercise on our part to ask ourselves, "Who is my enemy?" and then examine our feelings and behavior in their regard. Are we loving (perfect) as Jesus loves us? AMEN