Love Your Enemies

December 25, 2005 00:19:12
Love Your Enemies
Veritas Caritas
Love Your Enemies

Dec 25 2005 | 00:19:12

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Speaker 0 00:00 <inaudible> Speaker 1 00:04 before we get going, look clear out a a fairly common error once and for all. We've probably all heard the claim that we're not really sure where the Christ, our Lord was actually born on December 25th we don't really know his birthday. Just to demonstrate how ridiculous that statement is. I did an experiment yesterday. I opened up the directory and I called one of our mothers and I asked her a few questions. First question, do you remember the birthday of your eldest sa as a child? She sounds kind of positive, and she said, yes. I said, do you remember if a child was born in day or night? She said, yes, that she said, do you remember the time the child was born? She sounded really puzzled. I said, yes. I just say thank you and hung up. It's essential that if I call any of the moms here, you could all give the same answers to those quick three questions, right? Speaker 1 00:59 What mother one, remember the poorest of a child, especially the first child I w what will, how blow out the bus. The Virgin Mary, she's the perfect woman. Are we supposed to believe that she forgot when Jesus was born? Does anybody really think she forgot? Does anybody really think that the blessing Virgin Mary, the woman that God himself created to be his mother forgot his birthday? Let's get real. It's a no brainer. Lady knew when Christ Harvard was born and in case some of these people haven't noticed. Saint Peter Knew Our lady and the other apostles also knew our lady SIF. Our Lord hadn't told the apostles what he was born. They could have just asked our lady. One thing's for sure they didn't make up the date of Christmas just to stick it on. Just send to six on December 25th she has to substitute for some Pagan Party and the whole idea is ridiculous. Speaker 1 01:58 There's plenty more that can be said on his thing, but we can see the basic point. There's absolutely no reason to doubt the date of Christmas. If we know the church teaches something, there's always done something a certain way and we can be positive, but even if we can't explain it, it comes to us from on high, so we should never back down. It doesn't matter if we're getting explain it. We don't have anything to apologize for or prod. Stick up for God and so we should never back down. We don't need to fade in the face. These kind of patronizing remarks. Okay, so much for that era. Let's turn to more substantial things. One of the odd things about our fallen state is that it's the gun easy for us to get used to things that are actually so amazing, but we haven't considered how amazing the situation is today. Speaker 1 02:48 Let's take a closer look at one or more amazing aspects of first Christmas. We'll try to get a sharper focus on it first Christmas. I can start it by considering the condition of mankind on that first Christmas. The revealed word of God says in Ephesians two three that by nature we're born children of wrath. Thanks to Adam, we're all officially born out war with God. The war declared by Adam in the original sin. So even though Adam in madam, all mankind fell, still got after fall, continued to send down angels to guide man. It's something he didn't do for the agents. They fell. They fell out of the way and the story he sent down angels to guide us in. In fact, as we've seen before, the fathers teach that each nation has its own guardian angel. The main job of a guardian angel nation is to teach the people and guide the people in that of that nation the ways of righteousness and holiness. Speaker 1 03:53 The fathers also teach that before the coming of Christ, the gentile nations increasingly reject to the knowledge of the true God that they had inherited from Noah, where all the center from Noah, because of this rejection of God, The Guardian Angels of the nations had an increasingly difficult time just trying to prevent their people from falling farther and farther into sin like tall tree and outright devil worship. Yet in spite of the fact that with original sin, we declared war, we were officially at war with God, and in spite of the fact that the nations kept falling farther and farther into this kind of sin, what was the song of the hammily army on that first Christmas night? Now we already know the story, but let's think about it as if we didn't know the rest of the story. What would we expect? Keep in mind, we're talking about in the army that totally outnumbers the posy force man, Shellac army. Speaker 1 04:45 That's absolutely superior. And ever since, I mean the angels could just squish us like rotten grapes. It's just a joke. If we're dicking, going to declare war on the holy angels, the end, we, the men, that's the opposing force seemed to use every opportunity to insult and mock and disobey the Educ Army's commander that's got every chance we get in every way. That's what a soon is. So what will we expect this army be singing? Now, if we were writing the story and didn't know the answer, we expect something like this. You guys are gonna get it. You know he's coming after Ya. Something like that. Isn't that what we'd expect? But that's judgment day. I mean, that's scary, but we're not there yet. We're talking about Christmas right now. What are they up there singing? They're not out there going out. Right you guys, you've been even getting in our face and that's us, but now, now we're going to turn their scent. Speaker 1 05:32 No, they're seeing glory to God in the highest on earth. Peace to men of goodwill. That isn't completely astonishing. Then we got to step back and think about that for awhile. We're at war with God and the enemy of God were the enemies of God. So our enemy, so to speak, army is up there giving us peace signs. Okay, and what did we do to deserve that? You, CBS gives a clear description of the condition, a fallen man on it. First Christmas quote, in such a flood of evil, the angels who had first been set in charge of the nation could do nothing for their subjects. The peoples each in its own way were driven on by evil spirits and fell into fight full of this suffices. Even the Jewish nation was drawn into their corruption as since such great evils had fallen upon the whole earth. Speaker 1 06:24 Since now, the angels able to prevent these evils and since the race God loved was walling the depths of inequity. And since that activity, the demons continue to increase day by day. The savior himself came to man and helped his angels in their work for the salvation of men. Close quote fathers tell us, I'm that Christmas night in Bethlehem when the Guardian angels, the nations, that's who those angels who are the agents of the nations and all the stuff they saw the little Lord Jesus wrapped up in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger. They immediately realized that their Lord and God, it's stooped down to earth to come to the aid of not only the Hebrew people, but indeed of all the nations on earth. This is why the garden angels of the nations are there, not your Saint Michael, the Guardian Angel. He would people at that time, he'd come to help his angels are loaded, come to make it finally possible to turn around their poor, confused people from the road to hell and onto the path of righteousness. So what are we sing on the first Christmas we're seeing an ambassador from heaven. The second person, the most blessed trinity coming on a peace mission to his enemy. He came and peace to his enemies. That's us, man. That's who we're really seeing on Christmas. And what do we to do to deserve for that? Not a single thing, not a single thing from the crib all the way to the cross. Our Lord is constantly showing us love of his enemy. That's us, man. Speaker 1 08:05 And what have we done to show him our appreciation? Speaker 2 08:13 Okay, Speaker 1 08:13 what have we ever done to show him how grateful we are that even though we're his enemies, he forgave us and became man for our sake. It's a great mystery. Christmas, he came on a peace mission to his enemies. He forgave us first. That's one of the great mysteries laying right there. The manger. He forgave us first and he commanded us to imitate him. He commanded us to love your enemies, to do good to them that hate you and pray for them at the persecute you. So how are we Speaker 1 08:56 supposed to love our enemies? We'll rely largely on the late great father Deon for clues here. The first thing to keep in mind is that if God commanded something, it's possible. God never commands the impossible. He commands us to love our enemies. He didn't say a single thing about liking them. It's not the same thing at all. To love someone means to will the good for them, like liking someone isn't an emotional response. That person. It's easy to see the difference between loving someone. You can love some without liking him. Parents do with their teenagers all the time, okay? Parents love their teenagers even when they don't like them. Do we love our enemies? Speaker 1 09:42 Each one of us should ask himself, how do I react when I'm at the hat, when I'm mocked, when I'm persecuted, when people around me are making me suffer? How do I react? Am I showing God the gratitude I have for what he's done for me becoming a man by loving my own enemies. He loves me and I'm a center. Can I love people who are that against me? Do I have a problem here I've ever heard of? The pack just is virtue. In order to grow in holiness, we have to grow in this virtue and the corona virtue. We have to practice it, okay? God wants us to be saints. If he wants us to be saint, that means he wants us to have this virtue that he's demonstrating, but becoming a man, the virtue of loving our enemies, since he wants us to have the virtue, he has to make sure that we're going to have enemies. God will make sure others treat us unjustly just so we can practice the virtue of lower enemies. He's guaranteed it. I'm not making this up. Second and three, three 12 all that. We live Godly in Christ. Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's the inspired in Aaron, word of God. I probably don't have to tell this crowd that if you're trying to be holy, you'll be mocked. You'll be persecuted. You'll be hated. It comes with the territory. Speaker 1 11:17 Okay. Given that we'll have enemies and give them that we're commanded to love them, what are we supposed to do then? Okay, when someone's given us a bad time, we can say this little prayer. We've heard this before, God, make him happy in this life and the next. When someone's given us a bad time, we say, correct God. Make them happy in this life, in the next, remember that love is in our will. It's not in our feelings and it's not in our emotions. We may still feel flaming this guy. Wouldn't they want to hit him? You know, throttle them. Something like that, that's got terminus. But as long as we can share this little prayer, God, make him happy in this life and the next, we've done the most loving possible thing we could do for that man, which is to pray for his happiness here and your after loving someone is to will the good from and by performance. Speaker 1 12:10 That'll act. We've willed the highest possible good for this man, which is eternal happiness. Our feelings don't matter. Love isn't our will, it's not in our feelings. Okay. The great bishop and Doctorate Church, Saint Francis to sail says quote, if I'm told that someone has spoken ill of me or that I am being opposed in some way, in an instant anger, flame stuff and everything swells, but if a midst all this, I just turned to God making Yak a charity for the person who offended me, there is no sin. I say even if a thousand kinds of thoughts rise up against this person and not for the space of one day, but have several provided that from time to time I disavow him. There's nothing wrong at all for it's not within my power to check those feelings. Close quote Saint Francis to sales. This is important to understand in the spiritual life, our feelings are not completely under reasonable control, part of the results of the fall, but as long as their will is corresponding to what God wants. Speaker 1 13:19 Our feelings can be in all kinds of things and we're not Sydney, especially if you have a hot temper. This is important and oak is your time for my kid calling as he says, and St Pat's sales had a terrible temper. He's one of the great doctors of the Church Greg's name. By practicing this kind of thing, he became, he was famous for being make, but for years people said, I can't believe you're so calm. He says, what if you only know what was going on inside? He's having this whole storm because it was, it was everything in his power to not just run, just reach over the table and grab somebody, and if you're saying these prayers, there's no sin, okay? Virtues aren't in our feelings. There's four things that happen. We say a prayer like God, make him happy in this life. Next, first off, we're growing in that virtue that our Lord is teaching us here, the manger, the love of our enemies who are growing in. Speaker 1 14:11 Second off, we're not sinning, okay? We've already committed in sin. Third off, we're actually growing in holiness. We've set a prayer. We're growing in sanctifying grace. He made an accurate charity. It doesn't matter what you feel you're doing, you're actually going home this fourth off. We're obtaining grace for the person persecuting us. That's why God became a man to give grace to his enemies. That's us. That's why he's got a confessional back there to give grace to. Then we're not in there going, I go to confession every week. I'm there and they're telling God what a good guy I am. You know I'm in there cause I'm saying, you know I'm messing up. I've been in your face. Please excuse me, Huh? Sin makes us the enemies of God of there's degrees to this, but why does God set up the confessional precisely so he can practice love his enemies? Speaker 1 14:57 Well, what an example to the rest of us. Okay, we can imitate them. We have as example, think about our Lord being nailed to the cross. All right? What did he say? Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do. He's praying for them as they're killing him and his feelings are more sensitive than ours and he's praying. Notice what he didn't say. He didn't say forgiven Lord. Now they've apologized and made me feel comfortable and pulled out the nails and they're now they're being really nice. That's not the prayer, okay? We want to imitate our lower, he comes on a peace mission in a manger from the crib to the cross. It's the same, the love of the enemies, okay? Don't worry if we don't forget things cause we can be sitting there and all of a sudden we remember something and we get mad again. Speaker 1 15:46 It doesn't matter if we say that prayer. Forgiving isn't the same as forgetting. We're not going to forget the last thing and spiritual life to be healed are the memories. You should pray for that. That's a grace to have forgetfulness. You should pray for the grace and for kick fullness. You, I forget things that are sending your past life or whatever. It's an important thing. Shouldn't be. Priests have to pray for that because we hear a lot of sins that we don't want to remember. You know, we have to deal with a lot of things and God will give a tea. Forget this stuff, but it's the last thing and the spiritual life to be healed. She could come along. Summer reminds me some horrible industry. You receive an all these feelings come back. Hey, we say that prayer. God, make them happiness. Life in the next, no sin. Speaker 1 16:26 Okay. All right. We're commanded by God to love our enemies. It's in the will. One other thing. What about the situation where someone has had such a horrible offense? It's unbelievable. It's crushing them down. They can't find the strength in them to forgive their enemy. Here's what you do. You turn it over to our Lord and Prairie, turn off the trailer and say, Lord, I can't forgive these people right now. I can't forget this person, but you can. I want you to come into this part of my life, this memory, this particular situation, these emotions, these scars. I turn all that over to you and I asked you to forgive them for me. If he'd say that regularly, he will heal that. It's an important thing for people that have been very, very damaged because there's evil in the world. There's no question, but he's been in our Lord understands it better than anyone. Speaker 1 17:18 He will hear that he came to make all things new. That's really important for those he that have really been smashed down by the cross. He can take charge of that part of your life and you bring it up to in prayer and bring it up into him communion. If you're faithful that prayer, he'll do it. He came to get peace on earth. Two men, a goodwill. Notice this doesn't say good man. That's good news for all of us. Men of good will. That means we want to be good. It means we want to do what he wants to do in spite of her own sin, sinfulness, and steep parity, and that we have the humility at least to ask him to come and change us this Christmas. Let's take some time to think about the incredible mercy God showed us by coming down in mercy, not in glory. Speaker 1 18:10 He didn't come and judgment at Christmas. He didn't come to punish us. He came to save us. He came as a commanding general, but he came as a baby. So we wouldn't be scared of it because angels showed up, but they sang songs of peace and not of war to people that are war with him. Spend some time thinking about that and individually how you have participated in this war against God and how much mercy he showed you that are turned around and say, all right, I'm going to try to practice love of my enemies. I'm going to show my gratitude to you by imitating you more perfectly. We want to imitate that and let's try to keep that prayer in our heart. The Guardian Angels of the nation sang that first Christmas night. Glory to God in the highest and I'm peace, honor, peace to men of goodwill. God bless you and Merry Christmas.

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