Patriarch Calls for Love for All, Including Enemies, in Sermon

Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III said in his sermon this week that Christian love should exceed ordinary love and extend to all people, including enemies. According to the Patriarch, for a person who strives toward goodness and holiness and asks God for help, everything is possible.

Drawing on the chapter of Luke read from the Gospel, he spoke about the teaching of Lord Jesus Christ on love and on our attitude toward our neighbor. According to the Patriarch, the commandment known as the "Golden Rule" obliges us to treat others as we want to be treated, and not to wish on others what is undesirable for us. He said this commandment is often forgotten, we speak of people disrespectfully, and self-judgment is left forgotten.

The Patriarch explained whom we should call an enemy. In his words, we often name as an enemy a person who has caused us unpleasantness only willingly or unwillingly, while in reality that person is not an enemy. An enemy is one who harms our soul, hinders our salvation, hates us unjustly, tries to take away our life, health or property, slanders us and damages our good name.

Shio III said that love for an enemy is a virtue rather than a feeling. It is expressed in not seeking revenge and not repaying evil with evil. This does not mean encouraging or hushing up evil: it must be opposed, and first of all eliminated through love, kindness, charity, prayer and admonition, and sometimes also through fair punishment. If admonition no longer affects a person, in extreme cases distancing from them may also be possible. According to the Patriarch, a Christian should regard the enemy as God's creation, though fallen, and should care for his correction and salvation.

The Patriarch noted that refusing revenge is already a victory over oneself, while doing good to an enemy is a higher spiritual step, by which a person, from the cross, imitates Christ who prayed for those who crucified him.

In his sermon the Patriarch also spoke about a practice spread on social networks, where people expose one another and say they do so for the benefit of the other person. According to him, the holy fathers, including Basil the Great, teach that the intention behind an exposure should be examined, to see whether the person is well-meaning or an enemy. He named three signs: when rebuking, sympathy and grief should be evident, the person should be objective and should grieve over sin in general, especially when speaking publicly, and they should not violate the order set by the Lord for rebuke. This order, according to the Patriarch, means that you must first speak face to face, if he does not listen, take one or two people with you, and only then tell the church.

In the concluding part, Shio III again called on believers to strive to love everyone, both friends and enemies, and to wish others what they wish for themselves. According to him, through this love a person becomes like God himself.