“I say to you that hear: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you.”

When Jesus spoke about loving your enemy, His words were addressed to people who lived among their enemies, in subjugation to them. The Jews had felt the Roman sandal on their necks. They had tasted Roman steel and had borne the yoke of Herod’s taxes. These were people who knew what it meant to hate - - up close and personal. The closest we, as a nation, have come to experiencing the depth of hostility that colored the daily lives of the Jews was the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines flight 93 seven years ago today.

In Jerusalem, hostility was the norm. The crowd must have been amazed to hear Christ’s message and, yet, they were drawn to Him. They could see He practiced what He preached. He ate with His enemies, the Pharisees and scribes. He cured the slave of the Roman centurion. He welcomed sinners.

Well, here in America, we don’t live side by side with an occupying army, but we do come face to face with people who make us fighting mad and who occupy our minds with thoughts of getting even.

It could be an auto mechanic who overcharge us; an airline that loses our luggage; a doctor who double books his appointments; or someone who sends us a flaming email.

It could be an ex-spouse who fails to show up for the children’s appointment; an alcoholic who falls off the wagon; a bean counter who decides to outsource our job. It could be a broadcast news clip from a battle scene in Iraq or Afghanistan.

When threatened, it’s only natural to feel angry and hostile. But, if those dark thoughts become an all-consuming lust for vengeance, it’s time to re-examine our thinking.

The cartoon character, Pogo, put his finger on what’s really happening in situations like this.  “We have met the enemy,” he said, “and he is us.”

The truth is, that anger seldom hurts the other person, who in most cases goes about his or her business as if nothing had happened. It hurts us. Some of the people who lost loved ones on 9/11 have never been able to get past the anger and rage they feel toward our enemies, the terrorists. It has become all consuming.

The longer we bear a grudge the more it wears us down. We may even start to feel guilty for harboring such negative thoughts. and actually treat ourselves worse than the other person, or enemy, did.

Today’s Gospel reminds us we are to love our enemies, do good to those that hate us,  bless those that curse us, and pray for those that mock us.

Jesus says we are not to strike back but, rather, we are to turn the other cheek. In Christ’s time, the back of the right hand was used to strike someone of a lower class. It was a show of dominance. If the injured person "turned the other cheek," it posed a dilemma. The left hand was used for unclean purposes, so a back-hand strike on the opposite cheek would not be performed. And striking with an open hand or fist was a sign of equality. So, in telling his listeners to turn the other cheek, Jesus knew they wouldn’t be hit a second time. It was simply a way of showing they were composed and in control of their emotions.

The only way we can exercise the same control is to set aside our desire to get even. We have to make a conscious choice - -  a decision - - to not strike back. We have to decide to forgive our enemies.

The word “decide” comes from the Latin “de cidere,” which means to cut something in two. Jesus wants us to make a clean break with the past and let go of our hostile feelings. It’s the only way to discover that, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.”