PRAYER MOMENT
Saturday
15 March 2014.
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
Pause. Be still
in the presence of God.
Reading: “Love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:43-48. See also Deut
26: 16-19)
Reflection. If
there is one saying that must have offended Jesus’ hearers this one about
loving enemies must have been it. When we recall what we know about Israel in
the first century under Roman occupation and the way people were taxed to build
the cities and palaces of Herod we have some idea of the experience of
oppression they felt. Jesus knew this. He had seen the struggles of people day
after day in his home village of Nazareth. Yet he deliberately spoke these
words in his solemn announcement as the new Moses on the mountain. He was
telling people something that must have sounded crazy to them: the reign of God
is not established through violence (as the Zealots thought) but through love
showing itself through patient engagement with people, especially those who are
“enemies.” And it works. We get a sense of it in South Africa’s recent history.
Prayer. Lord, teach
us how to walk “the road less travelled”, the way of patient engagement with
those with whom we differ, so that your peace may shine forth. Amen.
David Harold-Barry SJ
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