In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
In today's Gospel, our Lord, speaking to one of the Pharisees, warns him against inviting people who are his friends, or those that are wealthy neighbors, or his family, doing good to them, motivated by this ulterior desire that they may return the good done in this life. So our Lord here, basically, is calling us to a purity of intention, purity of heart, to have a certain love which is disinterested, which doesn't seek to be repaid in this life.
And this is the truest form of love, one that loves not for what we can get back in return, but just loves for love, loves for love, and really ultimately loves for God's sake. That's why when we love for, motivated by a love for God, we begin to love those that God loves. And who are those that God loves? Everyone made in His image and likeness, even the poor, the lepers, the neglected, the ones that aren't really enjoyable to be with, the ones that maybe make jokes that aren't funny, whatever it may be.
But we start to love these people, not because of what we get out of it, but because they're worthy of love. And so our Lord tells us that once you're able to do this, once you're able to have this sort of disinterested love, our Lord tells us even though you can't be repaid in this life, it is this love, when we practice it, which leads us to be more like Him, more like Jesus.
Because Jesus, God, has a disinterested love. He doesn't need anything and He doesn't grow in any way because of what we do, because He doesn't do good to us because of what we can do for Him. He does in a disinterested way. And so this love, when we begin to love in this way, it prepares us for an eternal union. It makes us more like Him and prepares us for this eternal union of love with Him.
And so this is what our Lord meant when He says that you'll be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous, that we will be purified in this way. In our life is a time of purification, to purify our intentions and our hearts and to be more conformed to Christ, to love as He loves, to the point that to love even those that don't deserve to be loved, that don't merit our love, that maybe have hurt us in some way.
Our Lord says, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
This purity of love which we're called to today, and this will make us more like Christ and in the end, lead us to that eternal union with Him in heaven.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.