Word to the Wise
Monday, June 13, 2016 - Monday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 21:1-16 and Matt 5:38-42]"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strinkes you on your right cheek turn the other one to him as well..." [Matthew]
JUNE 13 ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA, ofm
I live in a state that has passed legislation allowing citizens to carry firearms in public. This is, of course, based on a "constitutional right" to bear arms. This same state is filled with pious well-meaning folks who consider themselves Christians and yet promote the conditions of violence that clearly contradict Jesus' teachings about non-violence. It seems clear to me that our secular values trump our religious values when it comes to violence.
Can we acknowledge Jesus as a savior and at the same time say that he is "unrealistic" and "idealistic" in his teachings in the Sermon on the Mount when it comes to loving one's enemy and turning the other cheek? Does the original sin effect prevail over Jesus' teachings? It is a strange attitude and one for which we are already paying a price in gun violence and will be accountable for ultimately. Shall we say to Jesus, "The U.S. Constitution is more important and true than your teachings in the scriptures?"
The Mosaic law about "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" was meant to curb unbridled blood vengeance. Jesus seeks to eliminate it altogether. A thousand "what if's" do not change the teaching. Unless our world renounces violence as a way of resolving conflict, we will remain in tension with the Lord. AMEN
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