RECONCILIATION, NOT RETALIATION
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48
If there were one crime in human history that most agree cannot be forgiven, it would have to be the Holocaust. Some survivors think otherwise. Eva Kor is one of them. Her parents and two older sisters were killed at Birkenau; with her twin Miriam, she was part of the infamous “Holocaust Twin Experiments” at Auschwitz. As a result of her ordeals at Auschwitz, she suffered miscarriages, developed cancer and tuberculosis.
Kor realized that for her to heal, she must forgive the people who harmed her terribly. She writes: “I discovered that I had the power to forgive… it was all mine to use any way I wished.” Not everyone has agreed with her decision to forgive but she felt it was best for her and the right thing to do.
When someone insults/hurts/harms us, our natural inclination is to get even. Eva Kor gave up this natural urge and reached out to those who harmed her.
This what the readings challenge us to do: reconciliation, not retaliation.
In the gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to non-violence and love of enemies. He quotes the eye-for-an-eye rule of the Mosaic law (which was not a law of revenge but was meant to control the instinct for unbridled retaliation) and rules out retaliation and revenge.
However, he is not advocating that we become wimps and doormats! The examples he gives are instances of nonviolent responses to dishonour and oppression… to inspire similar forms of creative nonviolence. Plausible? Yes! Remember Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr did just this.
Why ought we to behave thus?
Because it helps us and them! Because it is the way God acts. We are made in his image and likeness, and we are called to imitate him: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (first reading); and “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (gospel). Jesus does not call his disciples to impossible flawlessness but to imitate God’s inclusive and universal love (some translations use the word “compassionate”).
Further, love (here) is not affection; it is willing the good of the other, praying for our persecutors, and doing good to them.
When someone insults/hurts/harms me, what will I toss back—insults or love, retaliation or reconciliation?
Do I need to be reconciled with someone? If yes, how will I reach out to him/her? How will I strive to imitate God in holiness and compassion?
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