Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Matthew 5:43-48

When reading “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” in the Gospel, it brought up many questions that I propose to be looked at in-depth. Do we have neighbors we love and enemies we hate? Or do we have “neighbors” we easily identify and associate with, and “enemies” who are actually people we have a disagreement or indifference of opinion with? Do we really in fact take the opportunity to know thy enemy and think if they truly are our enemy? Is there ever a reason to hate? Rather, we should learn and understand one another before even using such a word as “enemy.” Love and hate are sometimes assumed before even being knowledgeable about a subject, person, event, etc. In a world where human beings are quick to jump to a conclusion before gathering the full story, we need to do a better job to understand one another. There’s no such thing as too much love towards one another, in fact, we need to learn to love one another more than we are already doing. Unfortunately, to assume that you have an enemy is easier than making the effort to actually learn about someone, and in fact love them as your neighbor. We are all neighbors, which is why we should love all. As stated, Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” You never know what others might be going through, and it might be love from a neighbor that they need. There can never be too much love, kindness, and friendship in the world, we all need a source of these in order to survive. If we lose love, kindness, and friendship, we lose each other. I am always committed to be kind and love all, we never know what someone else is going through. Wouldn’t you want to have a neighbor that loves you, too? At the end of the day, the most important thing we need to do is have a positive impact on one another, to the point in which it is contagious. The best thing to do is to support those who are both your neighbors and your enemies. How we do this falls into our own hands.

Anthony Desiderio '15, M.A.

Divisional Advisement Coordinator - Social Sciences

Robert J. McGuire Scholarship Advisor

Center for Student Success