Too often in our lives we look only after our own self-interests.  We do what is good for us and often fail to take into account the effect that it might have on others.  When we consider our quest to seek after the Good, we often are thinking only of our own good and the good of those whom we love. 

     Jesus at one time tells a young man who calls him “Good Teacher” that there is only one good and that is God the Father.  The Good is one and it rests in God and that good is good for all, is available to all and will give life to all who seek it.  To say that God is good is not to merely attribute this virtue to God but it is to inform us also of where we are to turn if we truly seek the good in life.  This good “falls like rain” on all people, meaning that God does not desire the good only for those who are his own, only for his favorites or for those who have earned it, he desires the good for all of his creation.

     If we want good in our lives we cannot seek it only for ourselves.  Our good is interdependent on the good of all people, even our enemies.  We should desire the good not only for those who love us and whom we love but also for those who hate us.  If we desire to “have” the good in our lives then we must first “be” the good to all people.  We are too often bitter when we see others who we do not like sharing in the good.  The good seems somehow less valuable to us if it is shared in by those who we think do not deserve it.  We too often treat the good as if it were some commodity that increases in value the more rare it is.  We think that there is a limited supply of the good and that if others are sharing in it then there will be less for me and for my loved ones.  God is the source of good, of infinite good, and if we seek the good in God then there will be plenty of good for all people.

     Imagine how our world might be if we truly loved the good, not only for what it could do for me but for the very nature of its goodness.  If we truly loved the good then we would rejoice whenever we saw the good attained, even if it rested in our enemies.  We would rejoice in others’ blessings as much as we would rejoice in our own.  Jesus gives us a beautiful golden rule of moral behavior in seeking the good, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  The good that you want for yourself should be desired also for others.  When exercising the good, true children of God behave like God the Father, they do good to all people, whether we consider them deserving or not.  The good is given as a grace and it results in an abundant life of blessings, “a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing.”

     Jesus comes to accomplish the will of the Father.  The will of God is for the universal good of all people.  This universal good is salvation.  It is a good that is willed, not just for oneself but for others.  Jesus today extends the law to encompass this universal good.  In following the law of Christ I am seeking not only my own good but the good of all people, even my enemies.  In this way I am imitating the law of love that flows forth from God the Father.  This selfless gift of love given in service to others is the love that Jesus has brought to the world and that he will follow to the end.  On the cross Jesus shows us the perfect example of love when he prays for his enemies, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  Jesus knows that the Father’s will is to gather up even those who oppose his will into his kingdom.  He wants them to be forgiven, reconciled and brought to new life.  We must strive for this same perfect love in our lives in extending the law of love beyond our friends to embrace our enemies and desire the good for them also.