Offended, taken advantage of, even forced against our will: familiar situations to most of us, surely. Even St. Paul had his share of them, as he states in the first reading today. But can we say the same of our Lord’s teaching for such situations (as seen in today’s Gospel), that it is also justas familiar to us?
Yes, for sure we have heard about civil disobedience and nonviolent revolutions. But isn’t it also true that the popular dictum, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” has become more of our guiding principle in this dog-eat-dog world of ours?
Our Lord surely didn’t mean that we have to stupidly submit ourselves to violence. I don’t think He would ever want us to end up bruised andbattered, mangled and violated. Instead, He wants the vicious cycle of violence to stop.
Taking revenge never solves nor ends violence; it only aggravates it. American writer Isaac Asimov rightly remarked that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. We are far from being incompetent, for the Lord Jesus empowers us with better alternatives in order to stop violence.
And so, if, for example, someone strikes us on the right cheek, are we going to literally follow our Lord’s recommendation and turn the othercheek as well? Yes. (Why not?) But if that abuser and exploiter gets ready for another round of punching and hurting us, what shall we do? Start ducking, or get ready to turn again the other cheek? No. We grab his hand, shake it in a gesture of peace and reconciliation, and start a dialogue with him. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB
Reflection Question:
When confronted with violence, how do you react? Do you follow Jesus’ style of stopping it?
Hard though it may be, help me to always choose Your way of peace and reconciliation, Lord.
St. Gyavire, pray for us.
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