In any conflict, it is very easy and natural to think that we are the one unfairly treated. Jesus' words "love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you" is like an invitation for us to do something heroic, since it automatically comes to our mind that we are the one unfairly treated and unjustly persecuted.
This morning, I looked at this invitation from another perspective: It is God who loves me with a crazy love. Before I could have done this to anybody, God did it to me and continues to do so. God blesses me without any merit on my part. His goodness is without limits and conditions. He doesn't make a list of my failings and transgressions. I am not any less before His eyes because of my limitations. In fact, I have a feeling that He loves me more when I am weakest.
So when I read again this Gospel passage, I will not do so with a triumphalistic attitude because of my ability to practice it in my relationship with others. Rather, I will read it with gratitude, because my everyday life is a witness to This God who is Compassion, who loves me even when I am too busy focusing on myself and incapable of recognizing His faithful love.
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