Learning to love everyone

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"She shows that she is worthy to hear and not to be overlooked, and it is then He reveals Himself." -St John Chrysostom (Homily 31 on John 3)

Maybe I took this another way than he intended, but I wondered what this word from St. John means for us who proclaim Christ with our own lives. Look at the state of the woman in today's reading (John 4:5-42) from Christ's point of view. She is a Samaritan woman, a people despised by the Jews, and has had 5 husbands and is currently not even married to the man she is living with. She is exactly what the Jews expect of her people. But John says she is worthy and not to be overlooked. More so, he says that it is then that Christ reveals Himself.

You might see where I am going with this. Perhaps we are lukewarm or indifferent to others or even justify by our own logic our lack of charity or compassion or affection toward another person. Or perhaps we are truly looking to seek after Christ. We must be weary of religious zeal, which can masquerade as zeal for Christ. Attending to the services and keeping the days of fasting are wonderful, but mean nothing if not done for the sake of Christ as St. Seraphim of Sarov states:

Mark my words, only good deeds done for Christ's sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ's sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this life. - On Acquisition of the Holy Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23)."

Beloved, do we see any lack of these in our lives? Perhaps it is not a religious duty then, that we have overlooked, but a person. Let us then strive to love all men as Christ has commanded when he tells us to love our enemies. For who all is excluded if even our enemies are to be found worthy and not overlooked? Let us strive through our own prayer, fasting and almsgiving to draw nearer to God through loving those around us, "for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20)."