Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Ruslan Babii on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 3, 2026
Is it difficult to love our enemies? It is almost impossible to do by our own strength, because our wounded pride and resentment cry out for the opposite. But true Christianity is not simply about being a “good, polite person”. Christianity means living in gratitude, drawing inspiration from the sacrificial example of the Son of God, and drawing love from the grace of God, who forgives our enormous debts without demanding anything in return except our conversion and an open heart.
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today we hear some extraordinarily familiar, yet at the same time deeply challenging, words of Christ in the Gospel of Luke. It seems that we have known them since childhood. But have we ever stopped to consider just how radical they are, and how completely they overturn our usual way of thinking?
Jesus begins with something that would seem clear to everyone: “As you wish that people would do to you, do so to them.” This is what we call the “Golden Rule”. But then the Saviour takes an unexpected turn. He speaks to us very directly: listen, if you love only those who love you, lend money only to those you are certain will repay you, or do good only to those who sincerely say “thank you” — how are you any different from everyone else? Everyone does that! It is the ordinary human economy of exchange: “You do something for me, and I will do something for you.” Sadly, we often build even our relationship with God on the same transactional principle: “Lord, I will give You my prayer and light a candle, and You give me health, success and peace.”
But God lives according to entirely different and far higher laws of love. Christ calls us to something extraordinary: “Love your enemies… lend, expecting nothing in return.” You know, in the original text, in verse 35, there is a beautiful Greek word, ἀπελπίζοντες (apelpizontes). Traditionally, it is translated as “expecting nothing”, but it can also be understood more deeply: “leaving no one without hope.” In other words, Jesus asks us to do good in such a way that our love never depends on whether, or how, we will be repaid.
Why should we live this way? Because this is exactly how our heavenly Father acts. Every day He sends the warm rays of the sun and abundant rain upon both the good and the wicked. He alone is infinitely good even to those who have long forgotten Him and respond to His goodness with ingratitude. Until the time of judgement, God, as it were, holds back His strict justice, giving each of us time to turn back to Him and enter into an entirely different relationship with Him — one marked by the warmth and closeness of a family.
When we do good only to those we like, or to those from whom we might receive something in return, we act like shrewd businesspeople. But when we reach out to help someone who will never be able to repay us, or someone who perhaps only recently hurt us deeply, then our heart begins to resemble the heart of the Son of God. It is then that we truly become children of our generous heavenly Father.
Is it difficult to love our enemies? Oh, how difficult it is! It is almost impossible to do by our own strength, because our wounded pride and resentment cry out for the opposite. But true Christianity is not simply about being a “good, polite person”. Christianity means living in gratitude, drawing inspiration from the sacrificial example of the Son of God, and drawing love from the grace of God, who forgives our enormous debts without demanding anything in return except our conversion and an open heart.
I remember a story I once heard during a retreat. A priest spoke about an elderly woman who would bring a hot meal to her neighbour every day. Years earlier, this man had caused great suffering to her family. He had deliberately caused trouble for them at work and had continued to treat them with contempt for years afterwards. When someone asked her, “Why do you do this? He hates you and never even thanks you!”, she smiled calmly and replied: “I do this not because of the kind of person he is. I do it because of the kind of person I am. If I stop being kind because of his malice, then my faith is worth nothing.”
This is the freedom of the Gospel! Today, let us ask ourselves: whom do we love only because there is something in it for us? For whom do we do good while secretly wondering, “What will I get in return?” And let us try to perform at least one small act of love, unnoticed by others and entirely selfless, simply because we are children of our infinitely generous and merciful God.
Amen.
