Wednesday of Lent IV - Mercy
Let us be practical and ask the question, How do we love our enemies?
First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. It is impossible even to begin the act of loving one's enemies without the prior acceptance of the necessity, over and over again, of forgiving those who inflict evil and injury upon us. It is also necessary to realize that the forgiving act must always be initiated by the person who has been wronged, the victim of some great hurt, the recipient of some torturous injustice, the absorber of some terrible act of oppression. The wrongdoer may request forgiveness …. like the prodigal child…. but only the injured neighbor, the loving parent back home, can really pour out the warm waters of forgiveness.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, Published by Fortress Press.
