Saturday, August 3, 2013

Luke 6:32


‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.’ (Luke 6:32)



"Love your enemies." How is it done? It is just, it is all divine. Truly here we see the greatness of the "good news", a shocking news.

In the book of Samuel, chapter 26, we read about an episode of the Old Testament where we already see the style of one who forgives and loves as God loves, who sends rain on the good and the bad (Mt 5:45). In fact, the first Book of Samuel describes a generous pardon, that of David who does not kill King Saul, who instead had threatened his life. David has a higher outlook, he sees things from God, he sees in the Lord's anointed King Saul, which is why he respects the dignity and life of the king.

Yes, when a man forgives it shows his being a child of God, of a Father who loves everyone, Who is kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked. In this way the Christian realizes in himself "the image of the heavenly man" (Col 3:10) as Saint Paul notes.

"Love your enemies." This imperative is part of a series of indications with which Luke highlights the new way of loving of the disciple of Christ, a love without limits, a love that surpasses the logic of giving and receiving to assume the style of God. The generosity of God is absolute and the love of God without limits. A love that reaches even the enemy.

Love then, for the enemy, is the last frontier of a boundless mercy. To love in this way makes us similar to God, it realizes the image of the heavenly man.

But we must remember what Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote: “Rarely affirm, seldom deny, always distinguish.” Today in many countries of the world, the governments are pushing forward very strongly laws against “homophobia” even though this manipulation is against the will of the majority of the citizens of these countries. This word “homophobia” did not even exist a few years ago! Jesus taught us to love the sinner but hate the sin. But the non-believers, or “believers” who do not practice their faith, who are in the great majority today, do not distinguish between the sinner and the sin, and so, they accuse the true Christians of hating the people who have the tendency of homosexuality. Very soon there will be a true and open persecution against all those who express openly, even in the churches, that it is a grave sin, the act of homosexuality, which hurts not only the person who commits this immoral act, but also it greatly harms the families and the society. How quickly we forget what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19)!

True love of the enemy means to desire the true good of the enemy here on earth but also for all eternity. So many people today, also a great number of religious leaders and parents, seek to please and satisfy the desires of the flesh of the people without distinguishing if it is a sin or not, if it truly does good to the person or not. This is false and destructive love; this is misguided compassion! Few religious leaders today have the courage of the first Pope, Peter, the day of the birth of the Church, Pentecost, to say: “You have crucified Jesus” (Acts 4:10), “the author of life” (Acts 3:16), with your grave, mortal sins!

Jesus said to the apostles: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt 10:16). Our Lady continually asks us to pray for the priests, the bishops and the Pope, because there is a great temptation today, with so many people brainwashed by the mass media, the schools and almost all of the religious institutions, almost all under the control of the forces of evil, to accept this false and devastating “love”. Thus it is much easier, in the name of “love” (false), to live the easier part of the words of Jesus, to be “innocent as doves”: “Ignorance is bliss!” It is difficult to go against the current today, to seek the Truth with difficulty, with study and with assiduous prayer, in order to also be “wise as serpents”!

One of the acts of charity most important especially today and which is gravely lacking today, especially by priests, bishops and parents, is to make known, to make hated and to overcome sin. But a very great number of leaders have sacrifices eternity on the altar of human respect precisely because a great number of “Christians” do not want to know, to hate and to overcome their sins that they have allowed themselves to become habituated to!

It is true that we priests studied in pastoral theology “the need to apply the “law of graduality”. But what I find is that the recent popes, in the world today, put us on our guard not so much about the lack of applying the “LAW OF GRADUALITY” but rather the danger of the “GRADUALITY OF THE LAW”, which must be refuted in as much as it reduces the value of the law to a mere ideal.” (Visit: “An Open Letter To A Fellow Priest”; http://testimony-polo.blogspot.com/2009/11/open-letter-to-fellow-priest.html).

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An Experience of Life:

In my country, for more than a century, two hundred ethnic minorities have lived in peace and harmony.

In the same period when the towers collapsed in New York, also in Nigeria a civil war broke out because of disagreements between ethnic groups, between Christians and Muslims, with looting and massacres on both sides.

The government tried to restore order, but not succeeding, both Christians and Muslims formed troops of surveillance. I too was in one of these groups and fought on the side of the Christians.

One evening, during an inspection tour, we came across a Muslim group. We had surrounded our enemies. The majority of Christians suggested to kill them. But I could not do it: the Gospel says that we are to love everyone, whether Christian, Muslim or Buddhist, and love even our enemies.

I called our group leader and I proposed to him and to the others to save their lives, not because they might not have hurt us, but because those of other ethnicity are, like us, children of God. These words struck everyone and the lives of all those Muslim boys were spared.

I was happy because, even though we were enemies, God's will for His children is that we love each other as brothers.

Sumnei (Nigeria)



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