First Reading - Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Gospel - Matthew 5:43-48
In the first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people that they have entered into a covenant with the Lord. God commands them to observe his statutes with all their heart and with all their soul. This is not a casual relationship. It is a solemn commitment. The people declare that the Lord will be their God, and the Lord declares that they will be his treasured possession. There is mutual belonging. They are chosen not for privilege alone, but for a purpose: to live in a way that reflects God’s holiness before the nations.
The emphasis falls on totality. With all your heart. With all your soul. Covenant love cannot be partial. It requires an undivided heart.
In the Gospel, Jesus takes this covenant love to its highest expression. You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. With these words, Jesus overturns the limits of human love.
Loving those who love us is natural. Greeting those who greet us requires little effort. But loving an enemy — wishing good to someone who has hurt us, praying for someone who opposes us — this is divine. Jesus grounds this command in the very nature of God. The Father makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. God’s love is not selective. It is generous and universal.
Then comes the challenging conclusion: Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. This perfection is not flawlessness in every detail. It is completeness in love. It is a heart that reflects the boundless mercy of God.
Dear friends, belonging to God transforms the way we relate to others. If we truly claim the Lord as our God, then our lives must mirror his compassion. Covenant fidelity and enemy-love are not separate realities. They flow from the same source: a heart shaped by God.
This teaching confronts us honestly. Are there people we exclude from our goodwill? Are there grudges we protect? The call to love enemies is not sentimental. It may involve struggle and gradual growth. But it begins with prayer — asking God to bless the one who wounded us, asking for the grace to let go of bitterness.
To love in this way is to become children of the Father. It is to rise above instinct and reflect grace. When we choose forgiveness over revenge, kindness over hostility, we reveal that we truly belong to God.
Today, the Lord invites us into mature love — love without boundaries, love that resembles his own. It is demanding, but it is also freeing. For when we love as God loves, we step into the fullness of who we are meant to be.
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