How ready are we to listen?  Are we truly open to the demands of living a Christian life?  Jesus is not making a political statement, he is not commenting on the justice system of his time.  He is simply (or not so simply) giving us our mission.  If we call ourselves Christian, we need to become more “Christ-like.”  Some of Jesus’ last words: “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do,” are about love.  Love is not transactional.  It is freely given.  We have to choose to accept it, and accepting that love comes with challenges and responsibilities.  What are those responsibilities?  Let’s look at what St. Luke writes:

“Love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  St. Matthew says “be perfect as your Father is perfect,” but St. Luke uses “merciful.”  I like merciful; love and mercy go together in my mind.  God’s love and mercy are available to all who would seek them (to all who “hear”), and if we seek God’s love and mercy, we must be willing to extend those graces to others, even our “enemies.”