Love your neighbor
Published Mar 12, 2022 12:12 am
REFLECTIONS TODAY
The Jews are enjoined by the Mosaic Law to love their neighbors—their fellow Jews—as they love themselves (Lv 19:18). With regard a “stranger”—one who is not a member of a tribe or a non-Israelite—the Jews would exhibit a paradoxical combination of hostility and friendliness. They are enjoined to offer hospitality, yet they view a stranger as an object of suspicion.
The expression, “enemies” to whom Jesus refers in the Gospel, covers a wide range of meanings: people who do direct harm, and the outsiders or foreigners with whom one does not associate. Jesus tells his disciples to behave towards strangers the way they would behave towards members of their own household. Ordinary people love their family and friends. The disciples are to surpass this by loving “strangers,” and by not having recourse to generalizing or stereotyping. People do not want to be labeled but to be known for their individuality and personality. The Golden Rule tells us to refrain from doing to others what displeases us, and to do good things to them out of the goodness of our hearts.
Gospel • MATTHEW 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
The Jews are enjoined by the Mosaic Law to love their neighbors—their fellow Jews—as they love themselves (Lv 19:18). With regard a “stranger”—one who is not a member of a tribe or a non-Israelite—the Jews would exhibit a paradoxical combination of hostility and friendliness. They are enjoined to offer hospitality, yet they view a stranger as an object of suspicion.
The expression, “enemies” to whom Jesus refers in the Gospel, covers a wide range of meanings: people who do direct harm, and the outsiders or foreigners with whom one does not associate. Jesus tells his disciples to behave towards strangers the way they would behave towards members of their own household. Ordinary people love their family and friends. The disciples are to surpass this by loving “strangers,” and by not having recourse to generalizing or stereotyping. People do not want to be labeled but to be known for their individuality and personality. The Golden Rule tells us to refrain from doing to others what displeases us, and to do good things to them out of the goodness of our hearts.
Gospel • MATTHEW 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.