Daily Catholic Lectio
Tue, 17 June 2025
Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time – Tuesday
2 Corinthians 8:1–9. Matthew 5:43–48
Be Perfect
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies.”
Jesus deepens the Old Testament commandment “Love your neighbour” (cf. Lev 19:18) by confronting a distortion that had crept into later teachings. While “Hate your enemy” does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures, a group known as the Essenes, who lived near the Qumran caves, taught that anyone outside their community was an enemy to be despised.
Jesus challenges both ideas and commands: “Love your enemies.” Just as the sun shines and the rain falls on both the good and the bad without discrimination, our love too must go beyond partiality. “Then,” Jesus says, “you will be children of your heavenly Father.” In conclusion, He invites us: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Loving one’s enemy is the highest expression of Christian ethics. It becomes possible because God first loved us (Deus Caritas Est, 14). This command of Jesus is not merely about sentiment; it upholds the dignity of humanity and offers a model of reconciliation (Gaudium et Spes, 28, 78).
When Nelson Mandela was released after many years of imprisonment, people expected him to show anger and hatred toward his captors. But he said, “Hatred only breeds more hatred.” He lived as proof that love can overcome hatred.
Often, forgiveness is misunderstood as a sign of weakness or helplessness. But in truth, forgiveness is a mark of inner strength and moral courage. The one who forgives is the one who has been freed from the wounds of the past and has chosen to live in the present. To forgive is to begin again, like God, who always gives us a new today.
“Whoever forgives an offense seeks friendship;
but whoever keeps recalling it divides friends.” (Proverbs 17:9)
Let us walk this hard but holy path of love — not just for those who love us, but especially for those who challenge us. That is the perfection to which Jesus calls us.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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