Bp. Nikifor Horea: why should we love our enemies?
...we understand that the enmity with which he approaches us is not the depth of his soul, but it is a disturbance which the devil and the evil of this world have taught him, making him miserable.
As Saint Seraphim of Sarov, whom we celebrated on July 19th, said: “the goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit,” through which we can truly love not only our loved ones, not only the monk in our community, or our best man or our sister, but also our enemies, because we understand that the enmity with which he approaches us is not the depth of his soul, but it is a disturbance which the devil and the evil of this world have taught him, making him miserable. The book of Tobit says that a sinner is the enemy of his own soul. Any evil that a person commits–slander, contempt, lies, crimes, abortion, fornication–any of these that are committed bring agitation and harm to his soul, and the more he remains in error and sin, the more his life is weighed down and he does not know where it comes from, and he seeks an escape, often times coming to the relics of saints but not knowing that the cause of evil is his own sin. Therefore, the Saviour teaches us not to hate our enemies, but to love them because only in this way will we awaken them from their error, only in this way will they understand that their turmoil comes from the tormentor of people, the devil, who sowed disbelief and hatred and division in the world.
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"Scurt si cuprinzator" as the Romanian saying goes! Really good, thanks for posting it.