Gospel:
Matthew 5:43-48
43 Jesus
said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, `You shall love
your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who
is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what
reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you
salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the
Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect.
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Reflection:
A wife
was betrayed by her husband for a younger woman. After years of separation the
wife learned that her husband was now sick. So, because of her unconditional
love for her husband she went to him and without asking any question she
brought her husband to the hospital to heal.
Jesus in
our gospel today gives us teaching about unconditional love. A love that
pervades everyone. Including those who have hurt us or continue to hurt us,
this is very hard to do but this is who Jesus is. He gives us teachings that
are seemingly hard to follow based on our human standards. However if we are
really devoted to Him we will obey and follow.
What
would happen to us if we follow the teachings of Jesus? For example His
teaching in today’s gospel about loving and praying for our enemies and
persecutors. We free ourselves from undeserved hatred which does not bring us
any good anyway.
Let us
observe ourselves when we carry hatred in our hearts. We feel that we may
explode anytime and this is very bad for our health most especially to our
blood pressure. Observe also when we don’t carry any hatred in our hearts, we
feel light and we invite the blessings of Jesus to come to us.
Will you follow
this teaching of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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