Commentary on the Gospel of
Facing Hatred
After a long discourse on the commandment of love and asking the disciples to abide in his love, Jesus now breaks the news of the intense hatred the world will have for the gospel and his disciples. It is as if all his talk on love was to prepare them to have the courage to face the hatred by the strength of love. He also wants them to remember that the world hated him already and to follow his own example of how to take in the hate of the world and transform it into energies of love, drawing upon the Love in which they abide. And this is true. There was, is, and will be no other way before the world to heal violence than the model of Christ: facing hatred with the power of love. The life of every apostle and the saints and martyrs who followed is a testament to this truth.
