Father Rick’s Two Minute Homily for Saturday 1st Week in Lent   

February 28, 2026, Matthew 5:43-48  

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022826.cfm

But I Say To You.  

Families have their own way of communicating. I know a few Hungarian phrases.

One of my Dad’s sayings to me as a kid was, “Vijas Keekups,” meaning, “Watch out, or you’ll get a licking.”

Outsiders didn’t know what he said, but I did. 

Jesus is doing with us, His family, what all families do: saying things we understand and take personally.

“You have heard it 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.”

 Like my Dad, Jesus wants us to pay attention to learn something and sometimes avoid trouble. 

We often struggle if we try to love those who bother us through our own strength.

But Jesus makes the impossible possible when we turn to Him.

He is eagerly waiting for us to accept His beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit; theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

I learn not to fear my own poverty in forgiving an enemy, even to genuinely want to forgive.

My enemies become my friends, revealing how much I need Jesus’s help to become more like Him. 

Fr. Antonio Belsito, a Rosminian priest in England, had a question he asked in a retreat:

“Who wants to be a saint?

Who wants to get to heaven?” 

St. Teresa of Calcutta beautifully reminds us that “Holiness is not the privilege of a few, but the obligation of all.”

So, let’s celebrate those moments when loving our enemy feels difficult.

Remember, Jesus can love them through us. With God’s help, nothing is impossible.

The grace is there if we really want it.

Remember yesterday, “Ask, and you shall receive.”

Love Your Neighbor: 

Peace be with you. 

Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C. 
pastor@bscchurch.com