For the past few weeks the Gospel has been
taken from the Sermon on the Mount. Today we hear one of the most misused, abused,
and misunderstood passages from the Sermon that can be found in Sacred Scripture. It is a familiar saying to both Catholics and
Protestants, to Christians and non-Christians.
It is quoted all the time, in both religious and secular publications,
and is seemingly practiced around the world. The words of the passage are “An eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” These
eleven words have been used to justify capital punishment, revenge, and anger
of all kinds. In reality, that
law’s intended meaning was quite the opposite.
It was intended to limit a person’s retaliation to a wrong, not
justify or encourage it. For example, if
you break my leg, I cannot respond by killing your wife. An eye for an eye was meant to set
boundaries on retribution; it was never an invitation to inflict
punishment for personal injuries, or extend personal vengeance. The law stood for the proposition that the
punishment had to fit the crime, and not exceed it.
Jesus, in effect, eliminates this
policy of retaliation with his message of love.
He urges his followers to forgo even the limited retaliation allowed by
the Old Testament and thus to interrupt the whole cycle of revenge. Jesus tells his disciples “offer no resistance to one who is
evil.” Jesus calls on
his disciples to exercise ungrudging generosity beyond what the law or
customs require, to “go the extra mile.”
Jesus taught his disciples that they should respond to one another with
love, no matter the circumstances.
In spite of Jesus’
teachings, we encounter the attitude of revenge and retribution everywhere we
turn in today’s society. We see it in adults, and sadly, in our children. We see
it in the workplace, on the roadways, and in schools; in politicians, athletes
and housewives; we see it between spouses and among siblings; we even see it in
our churches!
The
first reading today cautions us against hatred, revenge, and holding grudges. Cherishing a grudge is like drinking
disease-ridden water and expecting the other
person to get sick. It doesn’t work that
way. The person who holds the grudge
is the person who suffers from it, because he allows it to guide his thoughts
and actions, and to harden his heart, instead of allowing him to experience the
grace-filled joy that comes with forgiveness.
In the reading from Leviticus God tells Moses, “Speak to the whole
Israelite community and tell them: Be
holy, for I the Lord, your God, am holy.”
In the Gospel, Jesus calls us to be perfect as the Father is perfect—a
seemingly impossible task to be sure.
Jesus
urges us to love our neighbor, but loving one’s neighbor includes neighbors who
are sometimes irritating, mean and downright nasty. In fact, Jesus insists that we must love our enemies too. When dealing with our enemies, or those people
we do not care for, exacting revenge is easy; loving and forgiving
those people is difficult, but it is what we are called to do by Christ. The holiness to which we are called is one of
perfect love. Give to those who
take from you. Turn the other cheek.
Pray for those who mistreat you.
Love your enemies. Forgive. What
is especially hard about Jesus’ teaching is the notable lack of exceptions. “Love your enemies; well, you know, except
…your parents who don’t know what they’re talking about; your brother who is
greedy and taking more than a fair share of your inheritance; your business
partner who cheated you; your boss who didn’t promote you; your best friend who
betrayed you; your ex-boyfriend or ex-wife...the list could go on forever. You can look for a place in Scripture where Jesus
carves out an exception to the call for us to love everyone—but you
won’t find it. Jesus never said that it
would be easy. He basically said: If you love those who love you, so what? Everybody does that, even sinners. Jesus asks us to go above and beyond what is
expected, to love in the face of persecution and hatred—because that’s what he
did while he walked this Earth. We are
created in the image and likeness of God, and we should try every day to live
our lives as God wants us to, to be holy, to be perfect, as he is perfect. But, can we really do that? Is that really possible? Not on
our own, no. But nothing is impossible
with God’s help.
Consider the example of Blessed Miguel
Pro, the Jesuit priest martyred for the faith in Mexico City in 1927. The Church in Mexico was suffering persecution at the
hands of the Mexican government, which was trying to basically outlaw the practice
of the Catholic religion. In the face of
this persecution, Father Pro continued to celebrate the Eucharist, wearing
disguises to travel undetected through the ranks of the police and soldiers who
were trying to capture him so that he could bring the Body and Blood of Christ
to the people. Eventually, he was
caught. After being framed for a crime
he did not commit, Father Pro was sentenced to death by firing squad. The government brought in news cameras to
film the event, hoping they would witness the embarrassing spectacle of a
priest pleading for mercy, and/or denouncing his faith. But instead of wavering, Fr. Pro showed great
dignity and courage, asking only to be allowed to pray before he was executed. After kneeling in prayer for a few minutes,
with the captain of the guard standing over him, he stood up, and, in an act
demonstrating perfect love, he forgave his executioners! Does that sound familiar? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do.” Then, with his arms extended
in the form of a Cross, and with a clear voice, he cried out the words that
since have become famous throughout Latin America:
“Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live
Christ the King!” This humble Mexican priest
demonstrated for us, in his life and
in his death, the kind of perfect love that Jesus speaks about in the Gospel
today.
Lent
will begin in just 10 days. How will we
take advantage of this season of preparation for Easter this year? If we have bitterness
or hatred that’s gnawing at us, perhaps we might focus on removing that this
Lent. If we can’t love our enemies, we
can at least pray for the desire to love them—that’s a start. And after time, we might be able to pray for
them. And then, maybe one day, we
might even find the strength to love
them. Who knows? However insincere or uncomfortable it may feel
right now, our intention is good, and our prayer will be heard. I have a friend here at Holy Spirit who is
always trying to get me to pray for people in the penitentiary—especially the ones I myself prosecuted. This has been very difficult for me. And I can tell you, for the most part, I’ve
failed miserably. But that doesn’t mean
I’ll stop trying. If we can stop harboring that grudge, if we can
surrender to doing the right thing, we might be led into love, even if it’s not
where we want to go at that moment. We just
need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us. We need to mean it when we pray: “thy
kingdom come, thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven. Jesus has told
us what we must do, how we must love; it’s up to each one of us to follow his
instructions, and to urge others to do the same.
Given the difficulty of the task, many people
have dismissed the demands of the Sermon on the Mount as unrealistic and
unattainable. Jesus, however, does not allow
us to pick and choose from his teachings--accepting what we find useful and
reasonable, and ignoring what seems impractical or demanding. Just in time for Lent, we are presented this
Sunday with readings that challenge us mightily. How will we answer this challenge? How will we strive to be perfect, as our
Heavenly Father is perfect? Well, how
about resolving to make this Lent a “Lent of love.” God bless you.
