Gospel
Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will
you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Reflection
God, the father is perfect. Always loving, always caring, always forgiving. And we’re to be perfect.
Not perfect like God is perfect, but perfectly human. And the most natural reaction to someone who does something against us, to persecute us is either to question whether they're right and we're wrong, or whether to take it as a personal affront, and we become angry. He's saying, look expect evil to be there, expect persecution. It's the plan. It's the way it works.
The world is perfectly designed with good and evil, and get used to it. And be ready for it. And know I'll help you through it.

Closing Prayer
Father, our own dignity, our own value is something you continually tell us that we have this gift, and yet we let it be attacked by so many things outside of ourselves. Give us a kind of protection against that kind of force that creates doubt and fear in us and a lack of value. Give us your courage. Make us more like you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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