“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48
I can sense the blood boiling right now. Many of you are wondering what nut job would pray for ISIS. Well, I am doing just that because the Son of Man tells me to do just such a thing.
Living the Gospels is hard. As Matthew Kelly often states, Jesus was and is a radical. We have to look no further than the passage above. No one wants to pray for their enemies, especially ISIS. We want to smash them to bits, send them to hell, and otherwise annihilate them. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that what got us into this mess in first place?
I am not a politician and I have no interest in casting blame. However, I do know the facts. The United States has been militarily involved in the Middle East for decades. ISIS currently uses our own weapons against our troops and against the innocent. How did they get those weapons? We gave them to them. Not directly, mind you. But those weapons ended up in the hands of ISIS because we were trying to help another group fight someone else.
As a Christian, I have a higher calling. I am called to love my neighbor and my enemy. I am called to pray for my brother and my enemy. So exactly how am I praying for ISIS?
I am praying that the saving power of Jesus be revealed to the members of ISIS. I am praying the rosary, I am praying to my patron saint. Imagine the power of these prayers if the millions of Christians across this country and even across the world were to practice our faith by doing the same.
I am not a pacifist. Evil must be confronted. At the same time, guns and bombs are not the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. That is why I am encouraging you to pray for ISIS. Pray for them and for all those who use terror and oppression as a weapon against God’s children. Even members of ISIS are part of God’s family and we need to demonstrate our faith with solid actions.
“Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy.” (Our Lady at Fatima, July 13, 1917)