Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 5:43-48
The hardest love — loving our enemies

Today, Jesus speaks to us with words that are as difficult as they are liberating: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:44) He is not proposing a new system of law, but a new way of being, rooted in the very heart of God — a love that knows no boundaries.

This does not mean approving the evil our enemies do. No! Jesus asks us to look at them with a different gaze — the gaze of the Father, “who makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good” (v. 45). Even our enemy is a child of God, made in His image, even if that image has been wounded or darkened by sin.

Let’s be honest — this is not easy. It is hard to forgive someone who has hurt us. It’s difficult to pray for someone who slanders us, insults us, or wishes us harm. But this is the Christian mystery: that in the face of hatred, we respond with blessing. In the face of betrayal, we respond with forgiveness. In the face of evil, we choose love.

Think of those Christians who prayed for their persecutors in concentration camps, or in the jails in our neighbourhood. Think of Jesus on the Cross, saying, “Father, forgive them.” That is our path too — and it begins with a small step: praying sincerely for one person -who hates me – from the heart.

This is the holiness that makes us “perfect like the Father” (v. 48). Not perfect in strength, but perfect in mercy. Today, think of someone who has hurt you. Pray for them. Bless them. And ask the Lord for the grace to love — even when it seems impossible.

This is the Gospel. This is the Cross. This is freedom.
Amen.

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Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025