Jesus was aware of the way the Jews demonized their enemies, such as the Samaritans. He knew that in the Jewish scriptures there were passages that talked of hatred of enemies but He also knew there was another tradition which forbade such hatred. Our first reading, from Leviticus, insists that we are not to seek vengeance and bear grudges in our heart. When Jesus teaches the values of the kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount, He builds on that tradition. He tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. But why should we do something that seems so contrary to the way of the world? Because that is what God does. The God of creation shows grace to all His creatures, whether they are sinners or saints; God causes the rain to fall on honest and dishonest people alike. Jesus wants us to be holy as God is holy. And so we are to love our enemy. This is how Jesus put His words into action, by reaching out to sinners and those who were despised, to both rich and poor, and in the end forgiving those who were killing Him. Loving enemies is not easy and it ended with Him nailed to the cross.
At the heart of our faith is the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount; and yet we may be tempted to ignore it because it seems so radical and difficult. But our vocation is to imitate Jesus and His teaching, just as Stephen did when he forgave his enemies as he died as the first martyr. In a world that is so full of hatred and vengeance, both at the individual and national level, can we follow the teaching of the Gospel? Jesus tells us to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect. What does this mean for us today? We cannot be morally perfect in this world, but we can respond to Jesus with an undivided heart and faithful devotion. When we try to turn the other cheek and love our enemies we bear witness to the graciousness of a heavenly Father who wants us to embody the amazing love of His Son in our lives.