A difficult command.

In the church, we regularly talk about love. Right at the beginning, we hear: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And who can count the number of times that short but essential word – love – is said during the Mass!

Jesus, even in this Gospel, reminds us again and again tirelessly of the command to love, not only for our neighbors but also for our enemies: “Love your enemies… Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:44-48).

The command to love one’s neighbor was already known to Old Testament man, but he understood it very narrowly only about the one who is his friend, members of the same race, of the same nation. Only in one case does the Old Testament explicitly note: “If he that hated thee be hungry, give him bread to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Prov. 25:21).
The command to love our neighbor seems to struggle unsuccessfully with our selfishness. We have other interests and dislike listening to and living the love of God and neighbor, the unity of man with God and man. We content ourselves with saying that love has disappeared from the earth and that to live in love is challenging to say the least, if not foolish. Wherever we look around us, we see unrest, strife, anger, wars… And where does it lead? People’s dissatisfaction and disgust with everything that surrounds us are growing. We rightly ask ourselves: Can this be changed? If so, how?

We live in times when we are in the minority, surrounded by a society that loves a consumerist way of life, a civilization that promotes egoism and indulgence. In this society, we must understand the necessity of living the Gospel and its fundamental requirement – the law of love.

May a prayer from the diary of a worker-priest help us to do this:

Lord Jesus Christ,
You unite all the families and peoples of the earth into one body.
You have made us all sons of one Father.
You want us to be one, as you are one with the Father.
Create in us a kind heart for all those you love.
Teach us to know the truth of the baptism we have received.
The fact of the life that unites us all, the mission
that unites us all, the sacramental communion that brings us to unity.
Teach us to live as members of your body, as children of your Church.
Guide us and protect us so that we may not break this unity.

A complex command is given to us today in the Gospel. A more beautiful example was given to us by the Lord Jesus in his life. His example triumphs in us.