For most of us, today is not just September 11, 2014, but the memorial of 911 — a day of horror that we can never forget, a date when our lives changed forever.
So today of all days, this Gospel is just so hard. “Love your enemies. . . Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
“WHAT! Really, God? In a world filled with evil doers, you expect us to ignore our instinct, to not exact revenge? I want to seek “vengeance;” yet you call us to practice “mercy?” In a society that exacts punishment, you expect us to “do good?” To love even those who hate us and killed our families and friends?
“Why?”
“Because I am Mercy. You have not received what you deserve for your sins. So mirror the mercy you have received: return good for evil, grace for ungratefulness, love for hate.”
—Howard Craig is the director of advancement for the Midwest Jesuits. He and his wife Cheryl have five daughters, six grandkids, and two dogs.