Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Lectionary: 229

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.

I arrived in a parish some years ago to find the church sorely divided over a certain member of the pastoral team. People either liked him or hated him. There was no middle ground. The fellow knew this was the situation but had no idea it began in his own heart. All his life he had met people who liked him or hated him; that’s just the way the world is, he thought.

Jesus knew that kind of person and recognized his spirituality: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” Many religious teachers of Jesus’ day and our day see the world in those terms; they ground their worldview in a philosophical/theological heresy known as Manichaeism.

From what I know of psychology, the outlook may also be called narcissistic. Certainly the fellow I met in that parish was a narcissist. He placed himself at the center of the universe as judge and arbiter. As he saw it: he was good; his friends were good; and his enemies were evil. He dealt with people according to his likes and dislikes, his needs, preferences, desires, fears and ambitions.

Jesus teaches us a very different outlook, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” As soon as we pray for our enemies they become fellow travelers on this bewildered planet. The wall of division is breached.

Saint Columban was the founder and abbot of several monasteries and he realized, from his position of leadership, he could not single out particular monks as special friends. He had to treat them all fairly and equally. He would not tolerate toadies or sycophants. If he recognized the singular merits and wisdom of certain monks he must still honor the boundaries of authority which separated them. He might consult with them; he might even take them into his confidence but always with the understanding that they could win no privilege from him. Those who never asked for special favors won his greatest respect. The saint had an interesting motto, “Do not hate; it’s a sin against charity. Do not love; it’s a sin against justice.”

I’ve heard it said of a bishop, “He loved his enemies and hated his friends.” While the bishop showed special kindness to his most difficult priests, he often asked the more compliant ones to do the most onerous tasks.

Certainly we should love and trust our friends and deal wisely with our enemies. We must recognize the latter as children of God who deserve respect, fair treatment, justice and reasonable mercy. We learn this open attitude from our God for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 

When we let our fears, envy, jealousy, greed or lust judge some people as evil, we have violated the boundary between God and us; we have become evil. Aware of my own narcissism, I learn to regard every individual through the compassionate, sympathetic Mind of God.