Praying for one's enemies

I may have written about this before. I've certainly wondered about it before, and it came back into my mind a couple of weeks ago, or maybe last week. Some confluence of the news, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Readings at Mass did it to me.

Here's the thing. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, pray for our persecutors, and to bless those who curse us. I've read that early Christians did this, that some even rejoiced at martyrdom. I have even read the saying that The blood of martyrdom is the seed of Christians.

Martyrdom doesn't bother me, perhaps because I face it only abstractly. But it occurred to me one day that Jesus' words mean that I have to bless terrorists and pray for those who have no regard for civilization, and who think the only good Christian is a dhimmi — to name one obvious example.

Well, that was a discomforting thought. It's easy to pray for one's enemies in the abstract. It's one's enemies in the actual flesh that I find it difficult to pray for.

For what in particular should I pray? I heard an American priest preach once on the subject of prayer. He was addressing enemies in the abstract, and he said that we must not ask God to take our side in the conflict. We mustn't ask God to convert their hearts; we mustn't ask God to smite them. We must simply pray for them, and ask God to bless them.

I have the vague impression that the good priest was addressing prayer for our enemies in personal relationships, but it wouldn't surprise me if he meant to refer also to enemies on a global scale as well. In that case, the priest's minimalist counsel surely hews closely to Christ's words. But, is that really all that I should say to God about it?

Another thing that troubled me was how little I hear about praying for our earthly enemies. I hear a lot about praying for our troops, praying for victims of terrorism, praying for the poor, etc. I do that, of course. But I don't remember when I last heard someone remind me that I should pray for my enemies, let alone that this means praying for the terrorists. Maybe I haven't been reading or listening to the right people, although I thought I was reading and listening to all sorts of people. The more I listen, however, the less I hear of any sort of call to prayer. I do hear a lot of people arguing and itching for a fight, of one sort or another. We're all too ready for that!

I have asked myself quietly if Christians aren't being tried here by God, tried and found wanting. If we prayed sincerely for our enemies, as Christ commands, would we be seeing the bloodshed that has erupted lately? I've read that the world welcomed the 20th century with open arms, sure that the ages of ignorance and brutal warfare were relics of the past. Yet the first half of the twentieth century alone witnessed carnage on an unprecedented scale, made magnitudes worse by the very science that was supposed to have saved us. I'm not blaming science; I'm blaming men who abandoned God for the pursuit of their own self-imagined glory. One hundred years later, the science is more advanced; the weapons, more fearsome; the tactics, more brutal. Socrates thought that you could teach men to be good, but from my perspective the intellect has taught us only how to fear more and more things. Through this, Christ calls, Be not afraid. He must be serious, since he tells us to pray for our enemies, rather than to cut them down by the sword.

I've remembered these enemies lately in my prayers. It's incredibly difficult even to think about such a prayer, let alone to do it. Praying for most people isn't difficult for me, but praying for terrorists seems almost like I'm betraying everyone I love.

Anyone's opinion on this, along with directions for some insight would be profoundly appreciated.

Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

(In case you're wondering, I pray for our soldiers, for the victims of terrorism as well, and for an end to terrorism. Of course I do!)