A good place to begin venturing into what Jesus is calling us to consider in loving our enemies is to be found in the opening verses of today’s gospel-reading: “Pray for those who treat you badly” (Luke 6, 28). Our first inclination may well be to set about planning how to even the score. To move into the territory of praying for those who treat us badly is not about asking God to help them see things as we see them. Surely it’s more about opening ourselves up to begin seeing others as God sees them - people worthy of compassion, love, forgiveness and mercy. And isn’t that precisely how God sees us?

As we try to come to terms with how today’s gospel-reading applies to us, the one thing of which we can be sure is that Jesus is not proclaiming that there is virtue in living in destitution and struggling to eke out a minimal existence. There is certainly nothing to be recommended about living in conditions that are dehumanising, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald. If, however, we can learn to weep for our sisters and brothers in pain and reach out to them in compassion, we will be on the way to transformation of mind and heart

Despite our personal inadequacies and repeated failures to measure up to how we would like to be, Jesus keeps on assuring us that he wants to use our feeble efforts to bring life, love and encouragement to those around us. We may never experience the satisfaction of seeing our metaphorical nets filled to breaking-point, but it will be a source of great consolation when our hearts are broken open with compassion for the imprisoned, the oppressed and the needy, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

As baptised members of the Christian community, we have inherited the blessing of God’s Spirit and the invitation to “bring glad tidings and “proclaim the Lord’s favour” to the poor, the blind, people in prison, the oppressed, the forgotten and the helpless, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald. We all have the potential to breathe life and hope into others … knowing that God’s Spirit is our guide.

The new wine in the story of Jesus’ miracle at the Wedding at Cana is a powerful symbol of hope and a tangible statement that God is establishing a new relationship of life and love with the people of Israel, reflects Christian Brother Julian McDonald. God is offering them the elixir of life, symbolised by the new wine. God’s life and love is also offered to us, but to avail of it we need to be on the same wavelength as Jesus. For that to happen, we could do no better than to take the cue Mary gave to the catering staff: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2, 5). That means keeping our ears open.