Love them, but not THEM

Written by Jessica Montgomery on Saturday of the First Week of Lent

“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”

These words from today’s Gospel always challenge me.  Yes, I can love my friends who are nice to me, but Jesus challenges me to do more.  He challenges me to love the girl in my group project who doesn’t do her fair share of the work.  He challenges me to love the little boy in the catechism class I teach that does not pay attention and teases his classmates.  He challenges me to love my coworker that shows up late for work, making me stay for 45 minutes beyond my shift.

Yet as much as these moments challenge me, they are often relatively easy to overcome.  I can imagine that the girl in my group project may not understand the material as well and is afraid to admit it, or maybe she has other stresses in her life and can’t do as much work.  Maybe the little boy does not receive any attention at home and thinks that acting out is the only way to get any attention.  Maybe my coworker had an emergency at home and got to work as soon as he could.  And even if none of these hypothetical situations are true, I can still find it in my heart to love them.  Although I may not be able to find a reason for their faults, I can see their vulnerabilities and recognize that they, like me, are not perfect and make mistakes.

But Jesus does not just challenge us to love the people that we have met.  He challenges us to love the person that stole our credit card information and has charged thousands of dollars to our cards.  He challenges us to love the shooter who killed his fellow university classmates.  He challenges us to love the suicide bomber who killed hundreds of innocent bystanders. No matter how awful the actions and how difficult it may be to find Christ in their lives, God calls us to pray for and love them.  Why?  Because like us, they are children of God who, no matter what mistakes they make, deserve to be forgiven and loved.

Reflection Questions:
Who in your life do you find difficult to love?
How can you challenge yourself to love them?

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Jessica Montgomery
Jessica is a senior from Plymouth, Michigan majoring in Biomolecular Sciences and Spanish and is the intern for St. Mary’s Hispanic/Latino Sacramental Preparation Program. She is also involved in the Alternative Spring Break program at St. Mary and loves volunteering at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. After graduation, she will pursue her medical degree and would love to work with Doctors Without Borders.
Email: jessannm@umich.edu