Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18 NABRE)
Jesus echoed these words more than a thousand years after God spoke them to Moses. To them, Jesus added, "love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:43) Jesus talked in great detail about loving our enemies. And Saint Paul continues this instruction in his letters when he writes, "Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law." (Romans 13:9)
Have you ever been hurt by someone? What was your response? Does it resemble what Saint Paul, Jesus, and God the creator of all things expect? Though we have struggled for many generations since the time of Moses, each generation, each person, has to wrestle with this command from the Lord.
I have been hurt, many times through the years. Most of the time, my response falls far short of God's expectation for me! In most cases, probably all actually, it is because my pride has been hurt. Even when someone merely insults or taunts me, I react to protect myself. I do not react lovingly. I am not patient. I am not kind. I do not bear or endure all things. I am more likely to seek my own interest, allow my temper to flare quickly, and to brood over injuries.*
Lord, I am grateful for your mercy and I ask your forgiveness for those times I have not lived up to your expectation. Please continue to change my heart so that, like your son, Jesus, I might pray for those who persecute me, wishing for them even greater conversion of heart. Lord God, thank you for enduring my indifference to your commands and helping me to connect my everyday struggles with your instruction to love others as I love myself.
Today, I will seek to let go of any grudges and to react lovingly, not selfishly, to others.
Saint Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus, pray for us.
Saint Polycarp, who trusted God even when events contradicted this trust, pray for us.
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