Aileen O’Donoghue ponders on who her “enemies” are. “My ‘enemies’ are rarely true enemies; they’re usually people who are either difficult to get along with or who annoy me. And yet, when I hear this passage, I think, Really? Jesus wants me to love that jerk?” Yes, he does. We sometimes fail to see what Jesus is saying within the context of his overall message. Jesus tells us in today’s reading to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Remembering that he prefaces that statement with examples of loving others is important. His message is a call to love in ways that challenge us – even scare us. This love he calls towards is the love of another simply for the other, with no quid pro expectation. Could this be the perfection he asks us to embrace, the perfection of love? The Apostle John tells us, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” When you abide in love, love is perfected in you. George Watson, a famous post-Civil War evangelist, said, “When the heart is made pure, it is then in a condition to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the abiding Comforter, whose presence floods the soul with unmixed love.” The perfection we are asked to pursue is all about perfecting the indwelling love of the spirit. That should be our daily effort – emptying ourselves so we can be filled with his love – then going forth to share that love with others. That’s the mission of the Church and the mission of all who call him Lord and Savior. That is the evangelism we can and should participate in.