Forest: praying for enemies

Monday, August 24, 2015
    Feast of Bartholomew the Apostle
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
    —Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In praying for enemies, we are not hurling holy thoughts at them or petitioning God to make them into copies of ourselves. Rather we are bringing our enemies into that part of ourselves that is deepest and most vulnerable. We are begging God for the good of those whom, at other times, we wished ill or wished to harm. In praying for enemies, we are asking God to use us for the well-being of those we fear.
    ... Jim Forest (b. 1941), Loving Our Enemies, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2014, p. 98 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:43-45; Luke 6:27-29; Rom. 12:14,20-21; 1 Pet. 3:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me to pray for my enemies. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah