"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." How does one loves one's enemies? How do we love those who persecute us? How do we love those who hurt us?
Do we love them the way we love our friends? Do we love them the way we love our family? Do we love them with a romantic love?
We love our friends because there is a sharing of common interests. The Greeks call this philia. We love our family because there is consanguinal connection, a connection by blood. The Greeks call this storge. You love your spouses or partners because there is romance. The Greeks call this eros. In all of these there is mutuality; there is an expectation of love being returned.
But how do you love an enemy? We can only love those who hurt us if we decide to love without expecting anything in return. Not even a thank you. Not even an acknowledgement of that love. The Greeks call this agape.
A love that is not based on feeling, on likes, on romance, on mutuality; but a love that is based on a decision to love no matter what. A love defined by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, a “communion of will.”
