Prayer of the Day

Seventh Sunday of the Year

Jesus gives us two very difficult challenges in this passage.  You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you….  This is a difficult challenge for us.  When someone has hurt us – especially if they have hurt us badly – our first reaction may be to “get even.”  “I’d like to do to that person what she/he has done to me!”  Yet Jesus tells us not to do this.  Loving our enemies or those who have offended us many times requires forgiveness by us.  Forgiveness doesn’t come easy but we are called to it.
The other challenge Jesus presents is very difficult indeed.  He says:  “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  We cannot do it without help, the help we can receive from the Holy Spirit to guide us in the way of perfection and by faithful attendance at Eucharist where we can be nourished with the very body and blood of Jesus to give us the strength we need to persevere as we try to lead a more perfect life.