Love for enemies.

In our language, the word enemy sounds rather drastic. Therefore, more than one person will easily assure us that he had no enemies. In Scripture, on the other hand, this expression is frequent, especially in the Psalms. Its meaning, however, is milder. It simply means a person who has wronged us in any way, even lightly, by words or taunts. In this sense, we have, understandably, we have many enemies, more than the hairs on our heads (Ex 39:13).

In the Gospel, the emphasis is explicitly on this, that we should not exclude even such from Christian love: 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..for your enemies, for those who persecute you… For if you love those who love you love them, what reward can you expect? Don’t the tax collectors also do this? (Mt. 5:43-46). Enemies, then, have a special significance in our spiritual development. For it is in them that the purity of love will be shown, love of neighbor which gives and does not expect it back, the love of God and typically Christian (agape). For by this the disciples of Christ are known (cf. Jn 13:35). It is natural to love the one who does good. But at the first wrong, affection stops and one appeals to the principle: “As thou hast done unto me, so I do unto thee!”

The Gospel asks more of us. It is for this reason that he asks. What are you doing strangely? (Mt 5:47) A practical remark concerning the love of enemies is given by P. Calcagno. He says that with real enemies life is not so difficult as “with enemies in imagery, those we have made for ourselves.” Especially those who are inclined to be impatient, carry in their memory every unpleasant word, and draw so many consequences of every insult that they soon feel as if they were in a lion’s den. If they change places, it goes on for a while, but soon they find someone to hurt them again. About such people like that, they have to endure themselves more than their enemies.

Two thousand years of Christian tradition have left visible traces in the social behavior of cultural peoples. The rules of decency dictate many outward forms of charity: one must yield to one’s elders, give way to the other, offer food, etc. He who does not want to be rude observes all this. But we know from experience how disgusting it is outward politeness where inward affection is absent. St. Paul exhorts Christians to have charity without guile (Rom 12:9). This does not mean that we must cast off outward forms of decency as hypocritical, but we are to try to revive them, to give them meaning. For this, of course, cheap goodness, and joviality, are not enough, but a real inner respect for the other and an effort to serve him.