February 19 & 20, 2011+ JMJ +
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Effective Love
“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That is a tall order to fill. The Lord’s command in the first reading from Leviticus was difficult enough. “You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart…Take no revenge and cherish no grudge.” When God first gave this command, the Israelites lived in a world where people sought physical revenge on each other. Our world is still that way in regions of ethnic violence and gang warfare. Most of us do not experience that every day, but we are still encouraged to cherish vengeance. We often find satisfaction in stories of revenge: The Count of Monte Cristo destroying his enemies, Charles Bronson gunning down Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West, Inigo Montoya vanquishing Count Rugen in The Princess Bride, The Punisher, The Spectre, Ghost Rider, I could go on. The fact is that we often desire revenge, and we cherish grudges.
It may look satisfying in the movies, but how about real life? Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq—those are the true faces of vengeance and the fruit of grudges held over decades and centuries. And have you ever met someone who especially cherished grudges and waited for revenge? You will know who they are as soon as they open their mouth, because that is all they ever talk about! Always living in the past, always describing who did them wrong and why, always talking about how they got even or will get even, they are a torment to be around. While we may not go that far, the trap is always waiting for us.
As a pre-emptive remedy, Jesus tells us to “offer no resistance to one who is evil,” to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” That hardly sounds like a solution at first. Letting the wicked act unopposed and letting ourselves be persecuted seems to accomplish nothing. But note what Jesus does not say. He does not say that we should say nothing against our enemies, that we should let ourselves be killed or let other people be harmed. Jesus is offering an alternative to revenge and grudges. He does more than simply forbid hatred and violence, as the law of Leviticus did. Jesus offers the only effective means to turn enemies into friends: sacrificial love.
Revenge cannot stop vengeance. Hatred and destruction cannot stop hatred and destruction. As St. John Chrysostom put it, “one fire is not quenched by another, but fire [is quenched] by water” Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture page 118). Sacrificial love is itself an accusation against one’s persecutors. The patient suffering of Christians at the hands of the Romans astounded everyone. When they saw how the Christians prayed for their persecutors, those enemies of Christ became Christians themselves. St. Monica’s continued prayers and love for her wicked husband finally led to his conversion at the end of his life. St. Bernadette suffered much hatred from her fellow nuns when she entered the convent for her fame, but her kindness soon turned their hatred to love. Of course, Christ himself and the martyrs who imitated him went above and beyond by even refusing to resist their persecutors at the cost of their own lives.
Sacrificial love is not the only response Christians can give. We may defend ourselves with force of arms. We even have a duty to defend people in our care and those who are helpless. Use of force may be necessary in certain situations to stop the spread of violence and destruction. But “one fire is not quenched by another.” A show of force usually makes more enemies. The only effective means to turn enemies into friends, the only effective means to convert the wicked from their ways, is the sacrificial love that Jesus teaches us and the sacrificial love that he showed us. If, by his grace, we can live this way, then we will be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.”
Rev. Eric Culler