If you desire peace for others, you'll receive it.
If you want others to feel loved, you'll be the recipient of love.
(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer:The Power of Intention Perpetual Flip Calendar)
A genuine irony exists today. The last few reflections focused attention on LOVE: love of God and neighbor. The readings of today's liturgy portray dislike, mistrust, ridicule and even hatred toward the yet to be born Messiah as well as toward Jesus, the young preacher. So let us continue our Lenten journey and reflections on the guidepost LOVE. The following words of Jesus as presented by St. Matthew (5: 43-45) will help us deepen our awareness of this unique gift.
"You have heard the commandment, 'You shall love your countryman but hate your enemy.' My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove that you are sons of your heavenly Father, for his sun rises on the bad and the good, he rains on the just and the unjust."
In these words we are reminded that God's love is abundant and it is for each person. There is no division. But we, no doubt, come face-to-face with a stark reality: to follow Jesus is not easy. The notion that our love is supposed to be God-like means we are called to love everyone. Yet, we know how difficult it would be to find someone who has loves everyone. Quis est et laudabimus eum? Who is this person and we will praise him/her?
Again reflecting upon some of the thinking and praying of Chopra (The Third Jesus) consider two primary images of giving and caring that are mentioned in the Matthean text above: the sun and the rain. Eastern thought and sensitivity see in them "the basis of life, the very source of nourishment" (p 56). We would say that this love of God, exemplified in Jesus, can be found in our very being. It is a grace God has given each of us as we were bathed in baptismal waters.
Yet, as human beings who experience the reality of original sin, loving an "enemy" is impossible at times. As Chopra writes: "... this passage [from Matthew] is one of the clearest dividing lines between everyday consciousness and the higher state of consciousness that Jesus was teaching about" (p 56). Consciousness = awareness!!!
But we can rise above the seemingly impossible challenge to love all humankind. We have been told more than once that God's love for us is the power that strengthens our human weaknesses. In our prayer today, let us pray with the Psalmist who wrote: "Remember us, Lord, as you favor your people." If we truly want to be at peace in our hearts, we must pray for the grace to break free from the shackles of original sin so that we can shower our own love on others, so that we can let our care and concern shine on those we encounter.
