Love Our Enemies (Lk 6:27-28) by Shane Kapler

11 Sep Love Our Enemies (Lk 6:27-28) by Shane Kapler

“I say, love your enemies…pray for those who mistreat you.” ~ Lk 6:27-28 (full readings)
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Shane’s Reflections:  Given the date, today’s Gospel reading is providential.  To love our enemies, to forgive them, does not mean to ignore the pain that has been inflicted.  The pain must be acknowledged, must be lived through – as was Christ’s upon the Cross.  To love one’s enemies means to continue to desire the Good for them, their union with God, despite their evil actions.  United with Christ Jesus upon the Cross, we petition the Father to forgive the evil inflicted upon us – the citizens of the United States, and Christians throughout the world – by terrorist groups.  Their hearts and minds have been blinded by a false gospel…as, to one degree or another, were our hearts and minds before we recognized Christ as the Father’s Son.  We do not whitewash their acts, but because of the mercy extended to us, we pray – even as we take steps to counter them and bring them to justice – for their salvation.
* Shane Kapler is the author of Through, With, and In Him: The Prayer Life of Jesus and How to Make It Our Own and The God Who is Love: Explaining Christianity From Its Center. He is online at www.explainingchristianity.com.
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Faith Challenge:  As you read this members of ISIS are either plotting or committing evils against God’s children.  I challenge you to fast and pray both for the persecuted and the persecuted.  Skip a meal and literally go down on your knees to ask that both God’s mercy and justice be poured out – mercy for the souls of all, and the just treatment of all people.

Counter-Culture News: LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel..
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Our Prayers: Pray LIFE Runners Creed to End Abortion.  Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, unceasingly. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day:  Saint Paphnutius
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Faith Quote:  “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them.” ~ Lk 6:32
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Through Christ our Lord,
Shane