A Message from Fr. David – February 20, 2022

In our Gospel this Sunday, Jesus teaches the Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31), but immediately takes it one step further, telling his disciples to “love your enemies and do good to them.” I would say that there is no commandment of Jesus which has caused so much discussion and debate as the commandment to love our enemies.

Note that Jesus isn’t telling them just to passively tolerate them, but to actively do kind things for them. This is as countercultural now as it was then. It asks us to look at our enemies as God does: with mercy and love.

Friends, none of us is sinless, immune from judgment or condemnation. How often have we seen a public figure denounce a person or a group, or heard a friend bad-mouth someone else? Let us realize that the reverse could happen just as easily.

Our challenge is to reconcile with those we want to condemn, giving others the mercy God gives us.

Quote of the Week

Mercy is the image of God, and the merciful are, in fact, a God dwelling on the Earth. As God is merciful to all, without distinction, so the merciful must share benefits equally.

Rabban Youssef Bousnaya, 10th-century Syrian monk