In today’s Gospel, Jesus is calling us to a deeper level of love. Jesus reminds us that the human heart was made to give. The best way to honor what God has created in us is to learn and to accept, forgive, and love ourselves as much as we forgive and love others. 
 
The Gospel tells us that all the commandments are based on the love of God and the love of neighbor. We are called to love unconditionally as God does. We learn about sharing, forgiving, and loving through the experiences of our families. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples and us about how to love everyone even those who are not our family and friends. Jesus says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 
 
Jesus knows that we are human and will not always do everything correctly. If we reach out in love to others, we are doing exactly what Jesus did. That is how we become perfect as God wants us to be. This happens only through prayer. 
 
This Sunday’s psalm tells us that “The Lord is kind and merciful slow to anger and abounding in kindness. Not according to our sins does he deal with us.” God looks beyond our faults and sees what we need. Sometimes we don’t think of ourselves as “blessed” because we are not perfect. Jesus reminds us that we are all a work in progress and God has not abandoned us. Through prayer and lovingly forgiving each other, we find healing and peace.  

Jesus’ law of love calls us to recognize in each other the face of our sisters and brothers. The kingdom of God is all of us united and blessed. We are all connected. With Jesus, people of every race, language, and culture are called to share in the one love that comes to us from God.