The WORD in Other Words by Fr Antonio Pegon SVD (Philippines)
Tuesday 11th Week in Ordinary Time
2 Cor 8:1-9, Mt 5:38-42
I was once approached in counselling by a woman burdened with fending for her brother who had difficulty managing his finances because of his drinking problem and bad company. She thought that it might be good to withhold financial help to him just to give him a lesson, but fully knowing too that if the situation was a matter of life and death, she would be morally obliged to help her brother. More importantly, love and concern for the brother should remain, as well as forgiveness from her heart.
Christian love demands that we love even our “enemies” We saw this in the attitude of Christ our Lord. We read also in the Gospels that God lets the sun shine on both the good and the bad people; He lets the rain fall on the just as well as the unjust. Somehow, one who cannot forgive an enemy, and thereby cannot love the person, blocks the flow of God‘s grace to him/her and to the other person. Ultimately, the one who cannot forgive becomes a loser, and there is no spiritual healing on both sides.
Indeed, Christian love is tough love. Christ himself is the model par excellence of loving even enemies. He gave his life as a “ransom for all.”
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