I say to you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the one who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well. To the one who takes your cloak, hand over your garment too. Give to the one who asks you, and from the one who takes what is yours, do not demand it back.
Treat others as you want them to treat you. Because if you love those who love you, what merit is there in that? Even the wicked love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that? Sinners do the same. And if you lend something to those who can repay you, what credit is that? Sinners also lend to sinners so that they will pay them back in kind.
Love your enemies, do good and lend without expecting anything in return. Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, who is good to the ungrateful and to sinners. Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.
Do not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; a measure full, pressed down and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. Because with the measure you use to measure, you yourselves will be measured.
Luke 6:27-38. That was last Sunday’s reading. And really, Jesus’ words are madness. Who would ever think such a thing is possible? Who is capable of turning the other cheek after a slap in the face? How did they do it, or what did those first Christians have, persecuted for their faith, who as they walked into the coliseum to be food for lions sang joyfully and praised God? What did Mother Teresa of Calcutta have that made her decide to devote her whole life to the poorest and the sick?
I send greetings to all of you. I’ll leave you with Father Sergio Córdova’s reflection:
On one occasion an altercation broke out between two men, and they started arguing. In the course of the quarrel tempers flared and not exactly affectionate words were exchanged, until one of them let loose a slap on the other. Since the latter was a good Christian, he turned the other cheek. The first man liked that gesture and didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. Afterward, the one who had received the two “caresses” rolled up his shirtsleeves, saying: “This is where the Gospel ends!”… and we can well imagine what came next.
Well, joking aside, the truth is that our Lord left us in the Gospel some teachings and commandments that are very disconcerting, humanly speaking: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who insult you. To the one who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well; from the one who takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to the one who asks you; from the one who carries off what is yours, do not demand it back.”. It is not easy language to accept. We are tempted to think that only “fools” do that, those who are weak in character or who don’t have the personality to defend themselves and respond forcefully to the aggressor. It’s not possible to let yourself be trampled on with impunity without putting up any resistance!
Our Lord’s message is paradoxical. The commandment of charity and forgiveness that Christ came to bring us is a paradox because the world’s criterion is very different. And many don’t understand it because it demands enormous humility and a ton of self-control and character in order not to be dragged along by one’s own passions of anger or pride. But above all it demands a mountain of love and goodness in order not to let hatred and revenge be kindled. All the guerrilla warfare and terrorist actions we are seeing today in the media have their root here: in not knowing how to forgive. Forgiveness is a word that does not exist in the hearts of many men. That is why there is no peace or dialogue to overcome conflicts, but rather violence, terror, weapons and deaths. It is still the logic of the “superman” and of the “will to power” that Nietzsche proclaimed.
But Christ’s message is in open antagonism to the world’s selfish mentality: “Treat others as you want them to treat you. Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate; do not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you: they will pour out for you a generous measure, pressed down, full, overflowing. The measure you use will be used with you”.
Tsu-Kong once asked his master: “Is there a commandment that must be obeyed in every circumstance?”. And the master answered: “Yes, and it is this: love your neighbor as yourself. You shall not do to others what you would not want them to do to you”. And then he added: “To do good to the one who does you evil: this is the highest goodness of the man with a heart. But to repay good deeds with bad ones is proper to the wicked and to soulless people”. Confucius taught this six centuries before Christ. A doctrine that in this comes very close to Jesus’ message. And the fact is that goodness and respect, before being Christian virtues, are the root of true humanity.
People often say that “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword”. And, indeed, human justice –which in these cases has very little of justice and a great deal of revenge– often avenges the offenses received and pays debts with more deaths. But the opposite is also true, and with far greater reason: whoever sows love, reaps love. And gathers the fruit multiplied a thousandfold. Whoever sows joy and love in his brother’s garden sees it blossom right away in his own.
Unfortunately, good is not always repaid with good. The Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (Jerusalem 1922–Tel Aviv 1995), Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1994, was murdered by a violent far-right activist, Ygal Amir. The reason: the peace negotiations he was carrying out with Yasser Arafat and with the Palestinians. It was November 4, 1995. Shortly before the attack, he had made this statement: “We have been able to rebuild towns and nations, and to make the desert bloom, but we have not yet been able to learn to forgive and to live in peace”.
Christ’s message is not easy. Forgiveness does not come out of us spontaneously from within. It is an arduous conquest. It is necessary to learn to love and to forgive. And at times it demands a great deal of heroism. That is why the Church venerates as saints many of her children who have given their lives forgiving their enemies, even their own executioners. Jesus Christ heads a very long list of heroes and martyrs. And throughout the history of the Church a great many Christians have followed in his footsteps: Saint Stephen, Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Thomas More, Saint Paul Miki, Saint Maria Goretti and thousands upon thousands more.
This is the madness of Christian love. These are the madmen who have given their lives for Christ. But they are the ones who have received the most excellent crown of glory and the imperishable joy of eternal happiness: “Thus you will have a great reward in heaven and you will be children of your heavenly Father, who is good to everyone, also to the wicked and the ungrateful”. And these saints, despite having been victims of inhumanity, have made the world a little more human. Thanks to them we can live with peace and hope.
May we too be “madmen” for Christ. Because his message –as Saint Paul tells us– is “a scandal to the Jews and madness to the Gentiles, but power and wisdom to those who are called” (1 Cor 1:23-24). Only the “mad” can do something for Christ and for their brothers. The “sane” hardly ever make it to heaven.