We have a duty to love. We have to love even those who don’t love us. We have to love even those who are hardest to love. We have to be like Jesus who loves even his enemies. In fact, it is written in the Gospel that he forgave his persecutors: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). We must pray and do good to those who don’t love us.
Anna from Milan got on the train one day with her aunt. Three young men entered the same compartment and sat down across from them. Their clothes were a mess, they spoke too loud and they used bad language. The other people in their compartment were bothered by it, but they were afraid to say anything. Anna closed her eyes. “They’re really saying terrible things, aren’t they, Jesus? How can I get them to stop?”
At the next stop, an elderly woman got on and Anna jumped up to offer her a seat. The teenagers looked at her and then made room for her near them. Anna sat down and pulled out her book. “You know, I don’t know how to read yet,” she told them. “Please could you read this to me?” They read almost the whole book to her. “Did you see that, Jesus?” Anna said in her heart, “Weren’t they kind?” --Italy