The Lord Jesus Christ once commanded His Apostles to love their enemies, as He would later do when the Roman authorities executed Him at Calvary.

Loving – instead of hating – someone you hold ill will toward is not an easy thing to do, especially in volatile, challenging times like these. Such was the topic of Corpus Christi Catholic Church Pastoral Council member Jen Arnold's essay in the Phoenix parish's Aug. 2 weekly bulletin. 

Arnold, who has a M.A. in Theology and Catechetics, wrote that the true definition of love has to be known before an individual takes on the challenge of loving his or her enemy. She pointed out that the common definition of love pertains to feelings and emotions, yet the Christian definition has nothing to do with feelings.

Jen Arnold | https://corpuschristiphx.org/

The piece declares that Christian love is two-fold.

“The first is sacrifice and the second is willing the good of the other,” Arnold wrote. “In other words, you want what is best for another person, even if it means doing some act of self-sacrifice so that he or she may have that good.”

She used Christ’s Death on the Cross as an example of self-sacrifice.

“The ultimate example of this was when Jesus offered Himself to be sacrificed on the cross in order to save each and every one of us from our sins,” Arnold wrote. “We are called to imitate that very love that Jesus offered. While we will not literally be asked to hang on a cross for the good of another, we will be asked to hang our own needs and wants on a figurative cross for the good of another. Love is not a feeling. Love is a choice and it is an action, especially when the feelings of love are absent.”

Christian love is easy to demonstrate toward those we actually love and care for, but its true essence shines through when a person shows his or her adversaries the same kind of love. Arnold wrote that by sacrificing anger, resentment and other negative emotions harbored toward foes, Jesus’ example is emulated. 

After all, sacrifice is one of the roots of love.