Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies Four Reasons to Love Your Enemies
Feb 22, 2004
The profound challenge of loving enemies is explored through four compelling reasons. First, it serves as a true test of our love, focusing on unrequited goodwill. Second, enemies often reflect our own hidden traits, revealing our darker sides. Third, they may highlight our moral shortcomings, acting as unexpected truth-tellers. Lastly, responding to hostility with love can transform relationships, disarming adversaries and paving the way for reconciliation, inspired by historical figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
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Love Is A Willing Act, Not Emotion
- Love is defined as an act of the will that wills the good of the other as other.
- Loving an enemy is the litmus test because it excludes expectation of return.
Picture A Real Enemy When You Hear The Command
- Hold a concrete enemy in your mind when hearing Jesus' command to love enemies.
- Apply the command personally, even toward someone you truly dislike, to test faithfulness to it.
September 11th Hijackers As A Test Case
- Bishop Barron asks listeners to envision the September 11th hijackers as a concrete test case.
- He then challenges us to apply Jesus' command to love even such perpetrators.