To love supernaturally requires supernatural means!

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Matthew Jesus drops another “bomb”…He tells us we must Love our enemies…How is this even humanly possible?!?….To answer that question in a few words - Its is not possible - Without the help of grace…..Love is not a feeing - Its a choice - We choose to love…But let’s be honest, none of us are perfect and some people make it very hard for us to love them - But that reality does not excuse us from the task!…..The “secret” to loving our enemies is being able to see God in them…..As we all know, each person was a child of God - Intellectually we can know that, but “intellectually” we can not “see” this reality…So how can we gain this sight?……If we can see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament - We surely will be able to see God in our neighbors, even in our enemies!…But how do we “see” Jesus in the Eucharist? - Is this for the “select few”?…..In order to “see” Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we must purify our heart by means of a Sacramental Confession….Sin impedes our spiritual vision…Once we “clear away” our sins, which can ONLY be done Sacramentally, we re-gain our sight….Then when we are ‘fed” through the hands of a Priest the Body of Christ, we will not only see God in our enemies but will be given the grace to love our enemies as well…To do what Jesus tells us to do today in the Gospel is simply not possible relying solely on our human faculties….To love your enemies requires a supernatural grace - And that is what Jesus provides for us through his Church…This is why the Catholic Church is “the boat” which the world needs to stay in, in order to arrive safely at our heaven home……..Human beings are not equipped to love as God requires us to love without the grace of the Sacraments and that is ONLY obtained in the Catholic Church….Those who have ears let them hear.

"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 only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect"

Years ago a priest from New York City told me a story that relates to this Gospel today from St Matthew…..This priest was living in a very poor section of New York City and this young Irish woman would come to the door of the rectory begging for food….The woman was homeless and a drug addict….The priest assumed because the woman was Irish and knew to come to the door of a rectory that she was probably Catholic…Clearly this woman was not born homeless and a drug addict..”Something” happened in her life - Something probably horrible!!! - That caused her to make very bad decisions…The Priest said to me when she would come to the door begging, looking horrendous - He would envision her on the day of her First Communion, when she was innocent and a child….That is why he always greeted her with a smile, gave her food and never judged her….Is this how we “see” other people? - As children of God? - No matter how they live or what bad choices they may have made?…..This “kind of vision” only comes from a pure heart and we can only acquire purity of heart Sacramental……Those who have ears let them hear!….Because to “see” in this manner is not human - Its supernatural…And that is what the grace of the Sacraments does for us - It elevates our human nature and this is the only way we can love as Jesus requires us to love!

“I give you a new commandment; love one another as I have loved you”

For all of us who are Catholic and attend Mass, we hear Jesus make statements that no person has ever made before - Love your enemies! - What kind of crazy person would say such a thing?!?….God’s ways are not our ways! - The world will always be “at odds” with the ways of God - This is why we ALL must make a choice….Following Jesus means we are “not of the world” - That means our life will be lived very differently from secular society - And some people will never understand us - But that is ok - Why? - Because “some people” as a result of our Catholic witness will question their life choices - Some many even be transformed - And that is what it is all about - Transforming the world!……Only a radical love can transform others and to love in this manner requires sacrifice and this is what the secular world refuses to do - Sacrifice!……But Catholics must be “different”….Why? - Because Jesus was “different”….”The Lord GOD opened my ear; I did not refuse, did not turn away. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who tore out my beard; My face I did not hide from insults and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; Therefore I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame”……Do you “think” you can “love” like Jesus loved without the help of the Sacraments? - If you do - “Think” again!…To love supernaturally requires supernatural means!……JMJ