I get irritated when, in the media, an individual who saves someone else who is a stranger to him is described as a "good Samaritan." This is because in these cases the rescuer has no animus or prejudice against the one saved. Likewise, Christian faith is diminished, if not mocked, when people speak of the naming of a boat or some other object as a "christening." We must always be alert to any attempt to tame the Gospel. Jesus is radical and confrontational: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends his rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Mtt 5: 44-46) His Gospel challenges human assumptions and overturns our sinful value systems: "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God'." (Lk 16: 14-15) The Gospel today demands more of us that to be "good people." It challenges us to be truly holy and in the hardest possible way - the forgiveness of our enemies.
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