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The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, June 18, 2002 The Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: 1 Kings 21:17-29 Psalm 51:3-6,11,16 Matthew 5:43-48 A reflection on today's Scripture . . . . "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Here is a hard word. Love your enemies. How do we do this? Is it possible to love our enemies and treat them as we would treat our own family, indeed as we would like to be treated? The answer to this question is a definitive YES! We can and we must. But How? We could study the writings St. Therese of Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church. St. Therese reminds us that while there may or may not be an emotional component to love, there is always an active component. What Therese advised was simply to do the small services you yourself would appreciate without regard as to how you feel about the person. The acts themselves are love. Think about it -- how did Jesus show that He loves each one of us. It isn't by saying it or sitting around with a silly, moony-looking face fawning on us. No, He chose to die at our hands in an action that demonstrated love. When you consider the words He lavished on the Pharisees, "generation of vipers, whitewashed sepulchers" among other choice phrases, it's apparent that He didn't much care for them. And yet, when He died, He died for them as well. So too, we may not much care for someone personally, but the emotional component of love is really beside the point. We are called to show God's love for them. We may simply smile, or we may make an extra effort to do something that we would appreciate it. But all of this is undertaken for the deep love we have for God. Once again remember that Jesus promised us that when we did something for the least of His brethren, we did that same thing for Him. So, yes, it is possible to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. In fact, that prayer is the first action of love. It will allow us to begin o realize that God loves the person in a way we cannot, and when we love God we do what He would have us do. It's very simple and it starts with a prayer. - JuandelaCruz, T.O.Carm. YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The meditations are in English & Spanish at http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html (case sensitive). ARCHIVED Meditations: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/dailymed%40saturn.nibcomp.com For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms (c)1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/ |
Title: Meditation: Tuesday, June 18, 2002
