The son or daughter bears the image of the parent. If we are truly children of God the Father, Jesus warns us, we must adopt God’s outlook as our own. The motivation behind our love for one another transcend personal attraction an sociological considerations. We learn love from the way God loves us. The first sign of his universal love that goes beyond human barriers is in creation (see Mt 5:45), and we are called to open our eyes to see God’s way so that we can make it our way.

Family love or love based on attraction always draws lines which include some and exclude others. Society always requires some group or race to be "the enemy," a scapegoat on which the ills of the majority can be blamed. Jesus’ challenge of love for our enemies cuts directly to the heart of our sinful way of loving that we consider both normal and necessary.

Love of enemies is the criterion of true, all-embracing love. To do good to those who do not reciprocate or who respond with injury tests the extent of our love. But this love should not be confused with a weak, naive attitude that condones evil or tolerates injustice. Love means seeking the other person’s true good, not just their comfort or appeasement. Love of enemies does not come automatically — it has to be learned; we need to discover the ways it can be done. This is the task ever before us.

David, convinced that he had been chosen by the Lord to unify the nation of Israel (1 Sm 16), led a guerilla band to overthrow the rule of Saul, who had failed to lead the people properly (1 Sm 15). Two occasions are recorded in which David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but did not take advantage of it (1 Sm 24 and 26). David’s compassion was not a sign of weakness, but of strength — only his assurance of the Lord’s power behind him could give him the confidence to love his sworn enemy in this way.

This psalm of praise extols the Lord’s mercy toward us as the motive for our imitating his kindness. Response: "The Lord is kind and merciful."

Paul, in teaching the resurrection of the body to people who were influenced by Greek philosophy to see death as freeing the soul from its bodily prison, speaks of Christ’s Spirit as giving new life to the body. The Spirit of divine life does not reject our bodiliness, but transforms it in the image of Christ to be perfected and incorruptible.

1. How would following Christ’s command to love enemies transform the society in which we live?

2. What are the signs of God’s way of love in your own life?