God Who Loves All!

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

1 Kgs 21: 17-29; Mt 5: 43-48

Today’s Gospel highlights the most challenging command of loving our enemies. 

It is somewhat unthinkable for those of us who were brought up with the idea that we should love our family, friends, and neighbors. Had we enjoyed a good and responsible upbringing, our good parents would have advised us to refrain from taking revenge on those who hurt us. 

While not taking revenge on our offenders reveals the magnanimity and forgiveness of good people, Jesus goes beyond this passive gesture and recommends an active love towards our enemies. We must remember that Jesus does not just ask us to tolerate our enemies but commands us to love them.

Moreover, Jesus makes use of imageries like sun and rain to propose an impartial love. But is such love truly possible for us at all? This is where Jesus’ uniqueness is seen. He does not just want his followers to embrace a higher moral standard but rather a new way of being the children of God.

Another unique trait of Jesus is that he became an example of anything he wanted his followers to imitate. The impartiality of Jesus’ love was visibly manifested on the cross when he prayed, ‘Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing’ (Lk 23:34). He did not merely teach love of enemies. He lived it.

Hence, if we analyze the core of Jesus’ teaching, it eliminates the criterion of reciprocity as the true measure of Christian love. For Jesus, Christian love is that which seeks the good of the other, and therefore, Christian goodness cannot be selective. Instead, it must imitate the generosity of God, who distributes sun and rain to all and not just to the deserving.

If God’s providence embraces all, we who are called to be perfect like our heavenly Father, must reflect His character of impartial love. Thus, for Jesus, reflecting the goodness of God is Christian love itself. 

Let us pray that, by accepting Jesus’ invitation, we may imitate the nature of God, who loves all.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar