“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

We can almost hear St. Peter and the rest of his disciples saying, “Ah, Jesus, I am still having trouble with that ‘Love your neighbor!’ thing.” Jesus was loving, caring, compassionate and forgiving. And he expected the same from all who wanted to be his disciples. He understood the Great Commandment to “Love your God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself” [an abbreviated form of the Ten Commandments]. But he knew that even pagans can know that through the use of reason because it is written on our hearts by our God who created us. Jesus taught us by his life and words that we must do more. We must try to be better by loving our enemies. We must seek to be the best by praying for those who persecute us. A good teacher, like a good coach, challenges us to be the best that we can be -not the best to ever study a subject or play a sport – but the best that we can be. They push us to be better than we want to be. Jesus is a Great Teacher and a Great Coach.