***
If you have ever played a video game, then you know there’s always a series of levels.
The first level is the easiest, and the final level is the most difficult. Sometimes it takes multiple tries before you succeed in beating that final level.
But if you do, then you’ve mastered the game.
***
If Christianity were likened to a video game, then today’s Gospel would be the final level: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
If you can do this, then you’ve mastered Christianity.
***
This Gospel is always a tough pill to swallow.
But how much bigger – and how much more bitter – is that pill when it’s personal? When it strikes at the heart of our lived experience?
Think of the civil unrest in America.
People are angry and frustrated for a variety of reasons. Nearly every story in the news is centered around racism, politics, violence, or the Coronavirus.
We are a house divided.
And yet, providentially, Jesus reminds us we must love one another, even our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us.
On a natural level it seems impossible. Maybe it is.
But nothing is impossible for God.
***
Just it takes multiple tries before you master a game, so it takes multiple tries, perhaps a lifetime or longer, to master Christianity.
But all that’s required to start is an open heart and an open mind. God will take it from there.
***
