Today’s gospel (Lk 6: 27ff) might well be the among the most challenging (difficult?) teachings of Jesus. Discipleship with Jesus is not easy for the average person; at least for the average person who doesn’t have the grace needed to live according to his command. And hearing from saints like Benedict that the sun ought not set if angry feelings persist, isn’t any consolation on some days.
The type of judging and condemning that the Evangelist Luke speaks of means, “Stop using yourself as the measure of things.” Or, “Stop determining another’s activities/agenda.” Or, “Stop acting like a pharisee,” against a fellow Christian (or family member or friend. Ok.
Not sure if you are similar, but loving an enemy is not easy for me. It is, though, the thing Jesus has commanded me to do. A Benedictine friend of mine frequently says, “Jesus told me to love that person, but I don’t have to like her.” Right, love is not understood as a sentiment; loves is having concern for another’s destiny, that is, heaven. Life as a Christian is knowing that the journey we walk is just that, a process. And, I am not finished yet.
A concrete example may be the former Yale seminarian of 35 years ago who wanted to give good example of loving an enemy when he offered a grave, next to his mother in Hamden, CT, to the Mr Tsarnaev, one of the two Boston bombers killed. His offer was roundly rejected. Loving your enemies is not socially acceptable.