Love Without Measure

𝐅𝐄𝐁. 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭 𝟐𝟔:𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟗 

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟗: 𝟏-𝟐, 𝟒-𝟓, 𝟕-𝟖 "𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝."

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟓:𝟒𝟑-𝟒𝟖 

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” (𝐯.𝟒𝟒) 

         One of the teachings that moved me during my growing up years in the community was when I heard the late Fr. Pascual Adorable who with a booming voice said in one of his talks – to pray for the prosperity of your enemies and that a disciple especially a covenanted disciple of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community must respond positively to the call to mission above everything else.

         I asked myself why when I heard it especially the need to pray for my enemies.  Pray for the prosperity of my enemies? OMG! Why should I? But this instruction came from the late Fr. Adorable who founded the Community to which my spouse and I were brought to by the Lord. And it continued to ring in my ears from the time I heard it sometime in the late 80s till the time I prayed for those whom I perceived to be my enemy.

         And who are my enemies? They are those who beat me in a boxing bout in high school, my political detractors, the architect who failed to deliver on the terms of our contract when my house was being remodeled, and my two partners in a business who fled bringing with them my share in a financial transaction that I arranged and, even those in the Community itself who speak ill of me behind my back.

         This, however, could just be the perception that I built on my mind and they might not even qualify to be called as such because an enemy is one who hates us and seeks to do us harm. If I am to apply this biblical definition to my situation, I will have to reconfigure my perception because it was not they who sought to do me harm, but it was the reverse. Thus, they are not my enemies, but I was the enemy to them.

         I struggled with the message of that homily by Fr. Adorable, but when the time came that I was to cross over from an imaginary line that separates an ordinary member of the Community to that of being a disciple I had to come to grips with that reality.

         A disciple is a learner, and this means I will have to bend down low and humble myself and be subservient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It meant enduring the pain of being disrobed of my nature and put on the nature of Christ. It meant I would have to die to my pride, arrogance, self-exaltation, of being in control, fame, appetite for wealth and idolatry.

         As I grew in my spiritual journey, I started praying for those whom I perceived to be my enemy. You know what? I felt indescribable joy that I could pray for my perceived enemies and pray that they may prosper in life. And the veil that separated us was torn in half as we all became friends again in the course of time.

         You may have noticed that the liturgical readings for the past few days spoke of humility, obedience, sharing, compassion, and now love. What the Church intends is for the lay believers to use these readings to reflect on their journey of faith with particular emphasis on their relationship with God. The Ordinary Time is a period for reflection on how our lives went by. What fills our minds and hearts? Do we fill it with hate or with love?

         To be a Christian is to stand like a tree with deep roots that sways but never getting uprooted and it goes without saying that we should remain founded on the Words of Jesus if we are to remain steadfast in our faith and the Gospel passage for today, difficult it may be, provides us with a view of what it would be like in heaven: "𝐁𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭."      

         Christ gave us the most striking example of how it is to love our enemies when while dying on the cross he prayed for those who persecuted him, who tortured him, spat on him, drove the nails on his hands and feet. In the Garden of Olives, Jesus out of love also restored the ear of the soldier that Peter had cut off.

         And Our Heavenly Father Himself also gives us a model on which we should base the manner by which we are to relate to one another including those whom we may perceive as enemies when Jesus said: “𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬” (𝐯.𝟒𝟓).           

         The reality in this Gospel passage is that everyone was created in the image and likeness of God. The same Word of God made its dwelling on all of us including those who we think of as our enemies. The images of kings and presidents are minted on coins, and it retains its value as a currency regardless of whether these were minted in copper or gold.

         Which is why there is really a need for us to look inwardly and see where our faith is taking us. Have we become self-righteous and have made it a habit to find fault in others and yet have closed ourselves to reason? Are we disposed to serving the church and or community for that matter even if it is inconvenient for us? Do we tithe and give back what God has only entrusted to us? 

         We must remember that man is God’s work and sin is man’s work. Thus, 𝑺𝒕. 𝑨𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 advises us to: “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆.” 𝑺𝒕. 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎 also said: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅."

         Enemies are like bees. They sting, but they produce honey. What all these means is that enemies are also instruments of God. And 𝑺𝒕. 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 adds: "𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.”            

         Although love has many kinds, the one that Jesus Christ used in today’s Gospel is the agape type of love which is an unconquerable and benevolent type of love which means that no matter what others may do to us, no matter how others treat us, regardless of the severity of insults we experience, we will never allow any bitterness to invade and inhabit our hearts. Rather, we will regard those who persecute us with that unconquerable benevolence and goodwill that seeks nothing but their highest good.

         Matthew ends with Jesus saying: "𝐁𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭." (𝐯.𝟒𝟖) In all honesty, this is the only time that I am able to fully grasp the real meaning of how it is to be perfect. I was probably one among the multitude who struggled with the thought of how to achieve perfection in our lifetime. Jesus, however, would not have said it in this Gospel passage if it were not possible.

         The perfection that Jesus is seeking from us is right there at the cross in that he died for all out of his great love for us – the righteous and the unrighteous. Jesus Christ was perfect because he could love those who followed him and even those who persecuted him.

         We too can experience such perfection if we can love as Christ did. Love is not just of the heart. It is also of the will for it is something that we have to do because love is the one thing that will make us one with the Saints in heaven. It is when we reproduce in our lives the forgiving and sacrificial benevolence of God that we too are restored to our original nature which is the image of God in us.

         To put it in a way that we can all understand, the man who cares for men is the most perfect man. The Christian perfection that Jesus Christ requires is when we can forgive as he forgave and to love as he loved us. Unless we can do this, we cannot call ourselves a disciple of Christ. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 28, 2026)