TOPIC:
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND YOUR ENEMY
1. STORY
Archbishop
Dominic Tang (19081995) was a Jesuit priest who was given a dangerous
assignment when asked to become the bishop of Canton. In 1958 at the age of 50, he was sent to
prison by the Communist government. He remained
there for 22 years. During this time he
never received a letter from relatives or friends. In 17 years he never received a bar of soap,
and he always slept on a wooden plank. Despite
all of his sufferings and hardships, he could say: “Love the Church and love
the country.” He lived the command of
Jesus to love our neighbor and to love our country.
2. GOSPEL, MATTHEW 5:3848
A)
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND LOVE YOUR ENEMY
Jesus
teaches us to love our neighbor, meaning those who love us, and also our
enemies, meaning those who do not love us. “For if you love those who love you, what
recompense will you have? Do not the tax
collectors do the same?” Jesus expects
more from his disciples.
B) BE PERFECT AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT
Jesus
wants us to follow the example of our heavenly father who “makes his sun shine
on the bad and the good, and causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust.” We are asked to love generously with our whole
heart.
3)
APPLICATION TO LIFE
A)
LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AND OUR ENEMY
i)
We must respect others as they are created by God.
ii)
We must be kind toward others by what we say. Use words such as thank you, please, I am
sorry, and excuse me.
iii)
We must forgive others as Jesus forgives us.
B) BE PERFECT JUST AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT
i)
We must try our very best to be good to others though they might not be good to
us. T his takes great effort and can only be done if we rely on God’s
help.
ii)
We must not become discouraged and must ask for the gift of perseverance. As it takes great effort to walk up a steep
mountain, it takes great effort to be perfect.
4)
CONCLUSION
Archbishop
Dominic Tang lived the command of Jesus to love our neighbor and our enemy. Jesus also lived the command to love those who
are good to us and those who are not good to us. We carry out the command of Jesus by being respectful,
kind, and forgiving to all. We do this as best as we are able to and continue
despite the difficulty of the command.
