PERFECTION OF LOVE - 06/20/23 (Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time)

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061923.cfm

Blessed Tuesday! To love is to will the good of the other. As such, to have perfect love for our neighbors, we need to desire their good, not just when things are easy, but even when things are difficult. Sacrifice is the fruit of our pure love for other people and for God whom we serve and obey. This love is not dependent on circumstances and feelings, but this is the type of love that always seeks to do what is right regardless of how difficult it is. Not all of us are willing to follow this path of love. But, our Lord Jesus calls us to be perfect because the heaven Father is perfect. This perfection doesn't mean that we will not commit any mistake in our earthly life. After all, perfection is found in heaven. Instead, our Lord Jesus is inviting us to look at perfection as a process where we are moved to love God and to love our neighbors even more as we desire to love them in the highest degree. What are some of the ways that will help us to progress in this path to perfection? 

First, we should love our enemies and pray for them. It is common for us to be good with those who are acting nice towards us, but what do we do when some people may hurt us? What if some people belittle us? Though it's natural for us to feel hurt and to feel anger as an emotion, Jesus wants us to go beyond what our feelings dictate. Our Lord is inviting us to love our enemies and to pray for them. This is truly difficult, but Jesus gives us the example of the Father for us to reflect upon. God the Father provides blessings to all people, whether they are just or whether they are the worse sinners. Why is this the case? It's because God is love. Despite being offended by our sins, all that God sees is our needs, especially the need to be loved. When someone hurts us, we should also be reminded that they may have been wounded in the past. All of us, even our enemies, are thirsty for love. Having this perspective will help our hearts to be filled with more compassion instead of anger, ams the more that other people sin, the more that we will desire their salvation by praying for them, especially through the rosary and other forms of prayers. 

Second, we can show a greater form of love for God when we give thanks to Him, even when we suffer from our enemies. As we see in the Psalms, it says, "I will praise the Lord all my life." If we ponder on it, part of our lives is suffering. But, are we capable of thanking God and praising Him during the times we suffer? This doesn't mean that God wants us to suffer. After all, our Lord offers us eternal life in heaven, and in the Kingdom of Heaven, there will be no tears, no sufferings, and no death. But, we can give thanks to God for granting us the strength to endure the sufferings we receive from other people. We can give thanks to Him for the opportunity to love other people and make a sacrifice for them. We can give thanks to Him for the realizations He will give to us, especially when we offer to God our feelings, our pains, and our thoughts in our prayers. To persevere in this perfection of love is impossible if we will only trust in ourselves. When Jesus tells us to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect, our Lord wants us to realize that we can only so God's will when we ask for His help because He is our strength. Let's ask help from God that we may be able to love our enemies despite the difficulty and see sufferings as opportunities to love God and our neighbors even more. Blessed are those who place their hope in our loving God. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth