The Lord says, “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you”. Along with “forgive not seven times but seventy-seven times”, these are arguably the Lord’s most challenging teachings.

     “Love your enemies”. There are several possibilities for a person to have enemies. A person may have enemies because of some evil he may have done to others. A person may also have enemies because he is a disciple of the Lord and others accuse him falsely because of the Lord. This latter possibility was the case of all the prophets in the Old Testament and the Lord, of course. He had many enemies who insulted and persecuted him unjustly because he was a messenger from God.  

     “Love your enemies”. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that to love is to will the good of the other. To will the good of those who have done bad, evil things to us is very difficult. Our human tendency is to take revenge. The best way to follow, the Lord tells us, is to will the good of the person who wronged us. If we cannot do that because it is very hard, we then at least try to make the first step in that direction and don’t will evil things to the person.       

     “Pray for those who persecute you”. When we pray for a person, we ask Almighty God to bestow his blessings on that person. Praying for that person is proof of our love for that person since we are willing his good. Of course, asking God for the harm or evil of a person is not prayer but evil thoughts in our heads.

     Love, prayer, and forgiveness are all parts of the same thing. Today’s gospel invites us to reflect on the most challenging things we may encounter in this world.  

Let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us the grace to love those who we find difficult to love.   

     Now, on the dumpster outside the rectory. The dumpster is the sign that the rectory will finally be remodeled. I have been in Fayetteville for eight months now and I have not settled in the rectory. My attention has been dedicated so exclusively to many other and urgent areas in the parish that the remodeling needed in the rectory has been left for later. The scope of the work includes remodeling the bathroom in the master bedroom, remodeling of the sunroof in the back, removing the carpet in the three bedrooms and installing hardwood floors, painting the entire interior, rebuilding the deck, installing a privacy fence, among other things. The work and the cost were approved by the parish Finance Council. With this approval, the Diocese of Raleigh has also given us their approval. The total cost of the project is $53,000. Since the parish has more than that amount in our local checking account, the Finance Council decided to withdraw from it rather than from the parish savings with the diocese.

     Personal donations have started to come in to defray the cost of this project. The parish has received $10,000 for this purpose to date. I would like to thank the parishioners who have made these early donations. I thank you for your generosity toward Saint Elizabeth during these past eight months; thanks to it, we are in position to cover this expense. 

     The work will start this Monday. The inconvenience of a house remodeling came just on time for me during the season of penance that is Lent.