Dear Friends,
As we enter into the final weeks before the election, it becomes increasingly difficult to have simple and
pleasant conversations with neighbors and family members. There is no shortage of strong opinions
floating around. We might be tempted to run and hide until sometime in late November.
In the midst of these current challenges, it is good to remember our roots. Christians are called to a
higher duty than those expected of an ordinary citizen. In the early church, Christians kept quite a
distance from the government. The early church’s relationship to Rome was a mixed bag. St. Paul says
that Christians should submit to the state, obey its laws, and pray for its leaders. Christians are to be
good citizens. However, early Christians were also seen as enemies of the state.
The apostles publicly refused to submit to all laws when they conflicted with the way of Christ. Jesus,
after all, had been killed by Roman authorities. How could his followers pledge any kind of allegiance to
that government? Their refusal to honor public officials as divine got them arrested and sometimes
killed.
One of the more radical teachings of Jesus that truly set his followers apart from all others was the
command for us to love our enemies. Jesus compares loving our enemies to God’s love for all people,
the “just and the unjust”. Jesus’s call to love our enemies is inexhaustible; it demands we love each and
every person on the planet.
Scholars tell us that Jesus’s command to “love your enemies” was the most popular verse in the early
church. It was quoted in 26 places by 10 different writers in the first 300 years of Christianity, which
makes it the most celebrated command among the first Christians. Enemy-love was the hallmark of the
Christian faith. Other religions taught that people should love their neighbors. They even taught
forgiveness for those who wronged them. But loving your enemy? Only Jesus and his followers took
love this far.
When early Christians were being martyred, they forgave those who took their lives. Rather than
defending themselves or seeking ways to save their lives, they simply turned the other cheek as Jesus had
taught. They loved the Roman Empire until their love conquered the empire. Disciples loved in this way
because that was the way Jesus had loved them. It was only through the love of Jesus that this radical
kind of love could be lived out. Their powerful love was what transformed the lives of those who
encountered them.
It may feel like the gladiatorial arena is back, especially in politics. Maybe our love of our enemies can
begin to change that again. One thing for sure, loving our enemies will change our hearts. A changed
heart changes our words and our actions. Try it.
Peace,
Fr. Damian