Day 10: Love Your Enemies

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Saturday of the First Week in Lent

I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. Matt. 5:44-45

Christians mention one another in their prayers (Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:11; Eph. 6:8; Col. 4:3), and in so doing they bring help and even salvation to those for whom they pray (Rom. 15:30; Phil. 1:19). But the final rest of compassionate prayer goes beyond prayers for fellow Christians, members of the community, friends, and relatives. Jesus says it most unambiguously, "I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5:44); and in the depth of his agony on the cross, he prays for those who are killing him, "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). Here the full significance of the discipline of prayer becomes visible. Prayer allows us to lead into the center of our hearts not only those who love us but also those who hate us. This is possible only when we are willing to make our enemies part of ourselves and thus convert them first of all in our own hearts.

The first thing we are called to do when we think of others as our enemies is to pray for them. This is certainly not easy. It requires discipline to allow those who hate us or those toward whom we have hostile feelings to come into the intimate center of our hearts. People who make our lives difficult and cause us frustration, pain, or even harm are least likely to receive a place in our hearts. Yet every time we overcome this impatience with our opponents and are willing to listen to the cry of those who persecute us, we will recognize them as brothers and sisters too. Praying for our enemies is therefore a real event, the event of reconciliation. It is impossible to lift our enemies up in the presence of God and at the same time continue to hate them. Seen in the place of prayer, even the unprincipled dictator and the vicious torturer can no longer appear as the object of fear, hatred, and revenge, because when we pray we stand at the center of the great mystery of divine compassion. Prayer converts the enemy into a friend and is thus the beginning of a new relationship. There is probably no prayer as powerful as the prayer of our enemies. But it is also the most difficult prayer since it is most contrary to our impulses. This explains why some saints consider prayer for our enemies the main criterion of holiness.

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate your, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. . . .

These sayings express not only the essence of nonviolent resistance, but also the heart of Jesus' preaching. If anyone should ask you what are the most radical words in the Gospel, you need not hesitate to reply: "Love your enemies." It's these words that reveal to us most clearly the kind of love proclaimed by Jesus. In these words we have the clearest expression of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Love for one's enemy is the touchstone of being a Christian.

Our Prayer

O Lord, look with favor on us, your people,

and impart your love to us —

not as an idea or concept,

but as a lived experience.

We can love each other

only because you have loved us first.

Let us know that first love

so that we can see all human love

as a reflection of a greater love,

a love without conditions and limitations.

Amen.