FOR OUR ENEMIES AND THOSE WHO WISH US ILL 46. PREFACE - Jesus said: Love your enemies. This maxim shows us all that is most sublime in Christian charity. But Jesus did not mean to say that we should have the same tenderness for an enemy as we have for a friend. By these words He teaches us to pardon offences, to pardon all evil done to us and to repay all evil with goodness. Apart from the worth that this conduct has in God's eyes, it also serves to show Man the nature of true superiority (See chapter 12, items 3 & 4).
47. PRAYER:
Dear God, forgive ... . the evil he has done me and still desires to do to me, as I wish You to forgive me; I also ask him to forgive me for the offences I have committed against him. If this person has been put in my pathway as a test, may Your Will be done. Turn me away, dear Lord, from any idea of cursing him and from all other wicked sentiments against him. Do not ever allow me to be happy at any misfortune that may befall him, so as not to blemish my soul with thoughts which are not worthy of a Christian.
Lord, may your mercy extend to him and induce him to harbour better sentiments towards me!
Good Spirits, induce me to forget all evil and remember only the good. May neither hate, rancour nor the desire to pay back evil with evil enter my heart, since sentiments of hate and vengeance belong to bad Spirits, be they incarnate or discarnate! On the contrary, may I be prepared to extend a friendly hand to him, so repaying evil with goodness and help him if it is possible.
So as to test the sincerity of my words, I beg You to give me an opportunity to be useful to him, but above all, Lord, preserve me from doing this out of pride and ostentation, smothering him with humiliating generosity which would only cause me to lose the fruits of my action, since in that case, I would deserve these words of Christ: You have already received your recompense (See chapter 13, items 1 & subsequent).
