Love and Hate

Hate divides and love unites. You have probably heard this before. It is true, in a way. The problem for us is that it is not always easy to tell who is doing the "loving" and who is doing the "hating". If someone stands for the truth and defends righteousness, is he showing love or hatred? Many in our society today will attack those who are faithful to Christ and say that they are "hateful". Although I will acknowledge that Catholics can do things that are hateful, most of the time when Catholics stick to their faith, they are motivated by love, not hate.

When people reject the truth, however, and say that holiness is wrong, it is almost impossible to be motivated by love. You see, God is love, and therefore, to resist God is to resist love. It is impossible to say that something which is good, like purity or chastity, is evil and still have godly love in your heart at the same time. Yet, in today's society there are many people who call good evil, and evil good (as the prophet Isaiah warned about 2700 years ago).

Sadly, even families are divided by this fact. This year, I have heard stories of families who cannot celebrate Thanksgiving with their relatives because they are not in agreement about the results of the recent presidential election. Love can heal these divisions, but it is not easy. If you are experiencing trouble of this kind (or anything even remotely close) then remember it is the love of Christ that is more powerful than all the hate the world can throw at us. And when we receive His love, we can then return that love to them.

Make sure that you love as Christ loved. Be truthful, but not snarky. Be patient, but not compromising. Be forgiving, but not permissive. Be willing to listen, but not just for the sake of voicing your opinion. Be like Christ, and you can change the world (and you can start with your relatives).