Jesus' commandment to love our enemies is perhaps the most difficult for us to embrace. It flies in the face of our wish to see our idea of justice done when we are wronged. When Jesus spoke of loving mankind, he used the word that translates into Greek as agape, an active feeling of benevolence toward others. This calls us not to compare ourselves to others, but calls us to compare ourselves to the perfection of God. As the Orlando shootings have shown us, even in the most horrific moments God is in the midst of it all.

The Scripture references are 1 Kings 19:10-15a, Psalm 43, and Galatians 3:23-29. The Gospel reference is Matthew 5:21-224,43-48.