Word to the Wise
Monday, June 17, 2013 - Monday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 6:1-10 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 the one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well......
History teaches us that Jesus' teaching on non-violence has not been the governing principle of the world! He quotes the Mosaic Law (which was intended to keep revenge to a strictly tit-for-tat level!) and tells his disciples that they have to go further and not take revenge at all! We humans can come up with all kinds of "What if's" in reply, but the teaching remains. Violence is not part of Jesus' teaching and we cannot justify it as Christians.
When Jesus says we should offer no resistance to one who is evil, he does not, however, mean that we should accept evil as a "fact of life" and not find ways to eliminate it. Certainly we should resist the temptation to evil, especially to violence! St. Paul, in today's first scripture, mentions many kinds of violence that he had to endure in the course of his ministry. He urges the Corinthians not to receive the grace of God in vain! If we succumb to violence, that is certainly a sign that we are not acting in accord with God's grace!
In our own culture, we have replaced Jesus' teaching with an amendment to our civil constitution on the "right to bear arms" that institutionalizes violence as a way of life! We have found a "right to privacy" that allows life in the womb to be terminated. We take civil revenge in the form of capital punishment! How any of this can be considered right by any Christian is beyond me, but our culture has found a way to justify these and many other forms of violence. The Sermon on the Mount calls us to remember Jesus' teaching and look at what we are doing as individuals and as a nation. We have a long way to go! AMEN