Love your enemies

By Lou Occhi

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031222.cfm
Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48

Today’s gospel starts with "You have heard it 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." The three key words here are hate, love, and enemy.

We will start with hate. Of course, the prince of hatred is Lucifer. He and his minions hate every living human being and want nothing better than destroy us. I remember Father Don Dilg telling us that the word demon comes from the Latin word for divide. What better way to create hatred in the world than to divide us into groups, and encourage hatred between these groups. We see this primarily in political, racial, ideological, and religious groups. This hatred is inflamed through television, movies, books, newspapers and social media. The tension brings viewers and readers to their platforms and increases their advertising dollars.

The next word is enemy. Just exactly who is our enemy? Enemy is defined as a person, group or nation who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. One form of hatred is seen between opposing countries. This is currently happening between Russia and the Ukraine. The original premise of this conflict was that Putin wants the Ukraine to return as part of Russia. Hate is not necessarily part of that desire. However, when the decision is made to invade with armed forces hatred naturally ensues. Innocent people suffer and die on both sides. 

Unfortunately, this type of thing also happens on a personal level between individuals. This country and, for that matter, the world has experienced an increase in hate crimes. We see smash and grab crimes victimizing innocent people trying to run a business. There are spikes in murder, robbery, rape, drug use and suicides. This includes people pushed onto subway tracks, others knocked out by a passing stranger, children killed by stray bullets, and on and on. Not that long ago if you did any of these things the police would have caught you and put you in jail. If, by chance, you escaped the police you would know that you would go straight to hell unless you seriously repented. Years ago Jill and I went to Italy. We were told that you could go out any time of the night without fear of being assaulted. The only major crime at that time was pick pocketing. That is no longer true. 

There are those who, in an effort to be promoted or recognized, plot against another person. This is out and out persecution. It is easy to hate someone who would do such a thing to you. This happens in every situation from little league to the corporate world. Sometimes there is person who just simply rubs you the wrong way and allows you to form a more subtle form of hatred when you are around them.

There are times when anger and occasionally hatred for the other person crops up while discussing opposing views. Somehow we have lost the notion that debate and disagreement is a bad thing when, in fact, it is the basis for good decisions. Because someone else and I may disagree on a particular point, it should not cause us to hate each other. On TV, lawyers fight tooth and nail in court. When the case is resolved they go out and have a drink together. I don’t know if that happens in real life, but I hope it does. Debate is a good thing and presents us with an opportunity to learn from each other.

Back in the day when Saturday Night Live was funny, Dana Carvey did a skit as ‘The Church Lady’. He would rail on about some perceived evil event. The catch line at the end was "Could it be Satan." I would laugh every time even though I knew the punch line was coming. The sad truth is that Satan is not a laughing matter. What we see going on in the world these days could easily be inspired by Satan.

We are not perfect. I am sure that I do things that may irritate someone and vice versa. The idea of the gospel is to get over it. I cannot control what others think, but I can control myself and how I think. Sometimes it takes a great deal of effort and prayer.

God calls us to love one another. That is the whole point of today’s gospel reading. If I harbor hate the only person that suffers is me. The surest way to love someone we would love to hate is to pray for them. Suppose I die and when I get to the pearly gates the first person I run into is someone I hated in my earthly life. I would assume that is not a good sign for me. There is no room for hatred in heaven.

Personally, I don’t know anyone that bears hatred to any other person or group. We may have different views and perspective but that does not preclude us from being friends, loving each other and praying for each other. However, as you watch or read the media you would think that the world is filled with people who all hate each other. Sure, there are people filled with hate, but I would say they are a minority.

Jesus was beaten, scourged, crowned with thorns and crucified. So, what was Jesus’ response to this? "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing."