Daily Gospel Reflection

Love is Not a Feeling

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we are exploring the genius of Jesus, His life and teachings in the Gospels. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, verses 27 through 38. "But I say to you that here, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you and of him who takes away your goods, do not ask them to be returned.

And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again. But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great.

And you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and to the selfish. Be merciful even as your Father is merciful. Judge not and you will not be judged. Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure that you receive in return." Wow, a great reading. There's just so much here. Other mentions of this same thing pop up in the gospels.

My kids are always like, "Does God really want us to love everybody?" And of course, the first thing I had to teach my kids was, love is not a feeling. You don't have to feel good about every single person. And love is not a feeling. And then, of course, the question that emerges from that, even in their little minds, very early on is, "Okay, well, what is love?" And contrary to popular opinion in popular culture, love is not a feeling. And we ask what it is. The doctors of the church have taught us that to love is to will the good of the other, okay?

To love is to will the good of the other. Jesus didn't say, "Like everybody. I command you to like everybody." He didn't say that. He said, "Love everybody." He said, "Love even your enemies." And so, what does that mean? It means that, okay, I don't have to like everybody. I don't have to like my enemies. I don't have to like what they did to me. But I can still hope for their good. I can still will good things for them in their future. And so that was the first thing that jumped out at me.

But as we go through this reading, there's just these epic ideas where Jesus says all the things that he's invoking us to be generous with to others. He says, "And it will be given to you in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over." And it's just a beautiful imagery. It's beautiful poetry right there. And then the reading closes with, "For the measure you give will be the measure you receive in return." Which is a powerful invitation to generosity. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.