LIGHT TO ALL THE NATIONS
Loving our enemies may not be the most natural thing for you and me, and
in the world it is a most unexpected thing. Yet it embodies the love of Jesus
who, St. Paul says, died for us while we were enemies.
Jesus said in
today's Gospel, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you" (Matt 5:44.) There seems to be no end to the demands! We'd like some
limits. We'd like to draw the line. Our preference is captured when we hear the
familiar expression, the "deserving" poor. Jesus Christ says that our
heavenly Father does not distinguish between deserving and undeserving; the Father
"makes His sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on
the just and the unjust" (Matt 5:45.) Now we are called to do in like
manner. That's how we share the "perfection" of the Father---by not
distinguishing or discriminating.
We distinguish when
we do good only to those whom we love and feel comfortable with and excluding
doing good to those we might not like, love or feel comfortable with. Now
understanding this takes a lot of prayer, and we can't do it without the help
of God.
We need to remember
that God's chosen people were meant to be a light to all nations and peoples.
Today's Gospel continues Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Earlier in the sermon He
says to His followers, "You are the light of the world. The challenging life
that Jesus describes today is how we, as God's people, live as light in a world
made dark by favoritism, prejudice, and hatred of others. Loving our enemies
may not be the most natural thing for you and me, and in the world it is a most
unexpected thing. Yet it embodies the love of Jesus who, St. Paul says, died
for us while we were enemies. The Sermon on the Mount isn't simply a
description of how to live. In it we find the living, dying, and rising love of
the Jesus who would make us a blessing for all people.
In the Responsorial
Psalm we acclaim: Praise the Lord, my soul! Who keeps faith, secures justice
and gives to His poor children. For He raises, loves and protects us.
In the conclusion
of today's Gospel reading Jesus exhorts us: "So be perfect just as your
heavenly Father is perfect." The original meaning of "perfect"
in Aramaic is "completeness" or "wholeness" - not lacking
in what is essential. That which is needed to make us whole or complete is
charity. Only in charity can we become like Jesus, who is a Light to all the
nations!