Day 11: “Love Your Enemies”

Scripture Reading (Jerusalem Bible):

Matthew 5:43-48
“You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way, you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and his rain to fall on the honest and the dishonest alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Host Reflection:

Jesus’ teaching today is among the most challenging in the Gospel: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It overturns our natural instincts and calls us to a higher standard of love—one that reflects the heart of the Father.

This love is what the New Testament calls agape love: a love that is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional. It is not based on feelings but is an act of the will, a deliberate choice to seek the good of another. This kind of love requires humility and often feels impossible—especially when directed toward those who are difficult to love or who have wronged us. Yet, it is precisely in these moments that agape love becomes an extraordinary act of grace.

We cannot achieve this love on our own. Agape love demands cooperation with God’s grace. It is through prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit that we are strengthened to love as God loves, even when our natural instincts resist.

The Desert Fathers embraced this radical love as a path to holiness. Abba Agathon said:
“If I could meet a leper and give him my body in exchange for his, I would gladly do so. That is perfect love.”(Apophthegmata Patrum, Alphabetical Collection, Agathon 23)

This teaching shows that love is not limited by how we feel but is expanded by our willingness to act for the good of others, even at great personal cost. Loving our enemies begins with prayer. When we pray for those who hurt us, we open our hearts to God’s transforming grace. Over time, our wounds can become places of compassion, and our hearts can be made free to reflect God’s own mercy.

In her mystical conversation with God, recorded in The Dialogue of Divine Providence, St. Catherine of Siena, a Doctor of the Church, receives these profound words from the Father, reminding us of the inseparable bond between