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?
The all-encompassing love of God, as Jesus describes it in the above passage, has often come to my mind recently. A "people peculiarly His own" operates by different standards. Our generosity doesn't always support those causes that support our way of life. The people with whom I associate are more inclined to serve the homeless, unfed, and those without adequate medical care than ivy league schools, opera, and ballet. Those causes appeal to the wealthier ten percent.
Jesus insists that we should love our enemies. The poor can be like an enemy. They will take everything we can offer and more, because they need it. They might accept help without a word of thanks because they should receive those things with the same gratitude as the wealthiest might offer to the middle classes. Which is to say, little. Their needs are inexhaustible although our resources are not.
Or. that's how we think of our resources until we consider them in the light of God's providence. Somehow, we're not sure how it happens; we manage. We get by; and sometimes, after years of getting by and doing barely well enough, we notice that our faith in God sustained us when other resources ran dry. And we're still not wealthy.
He sustains his people without luxury; and provides security without power. We learn wisdom without degrees, diplomas, or certificates. We enjoy and thank God for our daily allotment of manna. Our children might not inherit our reverence for God but we will have spiritual descendants who keep the faith. Of this we're sure as even the world's history books prove. The Catholic Church is still here where many religions, races, and identities have disappeared.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.