Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A: What Loving Your Enemies And Being ‘perfect’ Mean

A priest is giving a homily like I am right now on “What loving your enemies and being ‘perfect’ mean.”

“Now,” says the priest, “I’ll bet that many of us feel as if we have enemies in our lives. So, raise your hands if you have a few enemies.” And several people raise their hands.”

“Now raise your hands if you have only one or two enemies.” And even fewer people raised their hands. “See,” says the priest, “most of us feel like we have enemies.”

“Now raise your hands if you have no enemies at all.” Way in the back, a very old lady with a walker raises her hand and says, “I have no enemies whatsoever!” Delighted, the priest invites the lady to stand up in her pew. “What a blessing!” the priest says. “How old are you?

“I’m 98 years old, and I have no enemies.” “What a wonderful Christian life you lead! Tell us all how it is that you have no enemies,” asked the priest, to which the old lady replied: “I outlived the old hags!”

In a movie, the character Massala had become Ben Hur’s enemy. Because of Massala’s evil doing, Ben Hur is captured and forced into service in the galley of a slave ship. Meanwhile, Ben Hur’s mother and sister are sent off to prison. Ben Hur loses contact with them and later is told that they are dead. Ben Hur, returns to Israel intent on one thing--revenge. Because of Massala, he has lost everything. And now he lives for one thing, to avenge himself upon Massala. This passion consumes Ben Hur to such an extent that his sweetheart, Esther, looking into his tortured eyes exclaims, “Juda Ben Hur, you have become a Massala.”

A Scripture scholar recounts teaching in a local parish, where a “stereotypical grandmother,” asked if she could actually pray psalms that curse enemies. He responded, ‘You had better.’ God put them there for a reason. Frankly expressing anger is a step towards loving enemies.”

[source: The Gift of Israel’s songs, Jason Byasse, Christian Century, August 26, 2020].

ALL emotions are neutral—there is no such thing as good or bad emotions. In number 1767, the Catholic Catechism says that, “In themselves passions are neither good nor evil.”

Romans, Chapter 12 gives us the remedy for taking on the characteristics an enemy: "Do not repay anyone evil for evil.... never avenge yourselves.... If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink… Do not overcome evil by evil but overcome evil with good."

God loved us while we were his enemies. Romans 5:6-8

Loving means wanting good for them. It’s not how you feel. It’s what you do.

A few years ago there was a shooting and several died. Sandy Thompson, the daughter whose mother was slain, made a deliberate decision not to hate.

She writes, "If I hate him," she told her pastor, "I am also a murderer." She said, "Jesus said, ˜Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.' (Matthew. 5:21). He also said: You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.' (Matthew 5:43). “Therefore,” said Sandy Thompson, "I have no choice but to love and forgive the man who murdered my mother."

[source: Jamie Buckingham, Parables, Milton Keynes; England: Word Publishing, 1991, p. 39.]

In Matthew 5:46, Jesus warns that those who love only those who love them have no “wage,” because there is no moral superiority to even the lowest of human beings. In contrast, those who love their enemies do have a wage from God and will receive a reward because they are children of the Father and they see their connectedness of everybody in God. The opponent or evil person is seen as symbol of a much greater systemic evil—of which the person is a poor victim of the devil. We aim our efforts at this greater evil, which wants to harm all of us and cast our souls into hell.

A private person like Sandy Thompson is a good example of adopting a nonviolent, non-hateful attitude, but forgiveness is not mentioned in the context of love of enemies from Matthew 5:44 in our Gospel today because maybe the mistreatment or violence is still going on. Consequently, you can also love your enemy while assertively standing up for personal rights.

In fact, a nation state has no right to abandon its obligation to defend its citizens with force, using moral means.

There is no tradition of pacifism in the early Church, rather you find early Christian writers supporting the army in defense of enemies. Only four early Christian writers were absolute pacifists, and they are all heretics. Marcion, Tatian, also a formal heretic, Tertullian, who became heretic, and Lactantius who taught heresy in his contradiction of Romans 13:4 where St. Paul defends the use of force by the State, saying: "If you do wrong, be afraid, for he [the civil authority] does not carry the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute His wrath on the evildoer.