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On Good Friday at three it is good to mediate on the Passion of
Christ. “Father forgive them for they know not what they
do” Jesus has just expressed on the cross the highest form of his
Sermon on the Mount to “love your enemies”. Stephen when being
stoned says “Father lay not this sin to their charge” which echoes
Christ's plea on the cross. What is this love that Jesus calls his disciples to, to love our enemies? First of all it is not in the soul. It is not a decision of the intellect, a desire of the will or a feeling associated with the emotions. This love is spiritual. We get an indication of this kind of love in Galatians where Paul tells us “if we live in the Spirit then walk in the Spirit”. To love our enemies means we move in the Spirit towards them. “We think no evil but rejoice in the truth. We bear all things, hope all things, endure all things, and believe all things”.(1Cor13) If the Muslim is our enemy we are called to love them, to have the highest hopes an aspirations for them. If the homosexual is our enemy we are called to love them, to want to bless them and be kind to them. If our boss is our enemy we are called to move with compassion towards him. Whoever our enemy may be, like Christ on the cross, we are called to love, to walk in the Spirit, to move in the Spirit, to rise above the soul and abide in the Spirit. If we do this the sinner will be converted. “Love never fails” How important then is it to have the Holy Spirit? It is the only thing which will manifest the love that Jesus has. It is the only thing that will enable us to rise above our prejudices, upbringing, and culture and bring salvation and conversion and repentance to the lost. Only through the Spirit can we live the gospel of Christ. Even on the cross Jesus is teaching us. Even while being stoned, the Spirit is praying for his enemies. Even when we have been most severely tried and tested we are called to love. This love for our enemies is long suffering and kind. This love is spiritual and holy. This love is faith in action. So if you are not Spirit-filled and you are put in a place to demonstrate the same love that Jesus had, realize that God will give the Spirit to those who ask for it, to those who realize their poverty and cry out for mercy. On Good Friday it is good to meditate on the Passion of Christ and to pray for the grace of the Spirit to love our enemies as Christ did.. Amen |