February 27: Love your Enemies

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

February 27, 2021

Today in Matthew’s Gospel we hear Jesus tell His disciples and us: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). The person you would call an enemy is probably different than whom I would name. But whoever they are, and whatever they have done, we need to love them. And how do we do that?

I don’t know, except that I think the answer can be found in prayer. So I look at a prayer from Saint Anselm which says, “Lord, Jesus Christ, let me find you by loving you and love you by finding you. I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but believe so that I may understand.” I hope Saint Anselm won’t mind if I rewrite his prayer this way: “Lord, Jesus Christ, let me find you by loving my enemy and let me love my enemy by finding you. I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but believe so that I may understand.” Don’t you think this prayer makes loving our enemies possible? If not, maybe continuing to pray will help.

These reflections are meant to challenge us in our journey through Lent. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments with us.