Saturday in the First Week of Lent O God, by your Word you marvelously carry out the work of reconciliation: Grant that in our Lenten fast we may be devoted to you with all our hearts, and united with one another in prayer and holy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Matthew 43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Our tendency in our culture is to equate love with a feeling. Certainly there are feelings that go along with love, but love is first and foremost a decision to act in the best interest of others. (“Falling in love” is a constellation of a great number of feelings and choices, but at its heart it is the willingness to dedicate one’s self to the welfare of another.) Jesus invites us to care about the welfare of our “enemies,” not feel all warm and gushy inside about them. Since projection of our own feelings and fears onto someone else is among the major causes of having enemies in the first place, Jesus’s invitation is in part a counsel to love those parts of ourselves that we deny and project onto others. -- Fr. Scott.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 11:21:42 +0000
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