“Be The Change”
Mahatma Gandhi, one of the great
spiritual leaders of the twentieth century, lived and advised others seeking a
better world to: “Be the change that
you wish to see in the world.”
Twenty
centuries earlier an iterant preacher and prophet encouraged his followers to
take a different approach to the wickedness of the world. It was a radical
approach then... and now; it was not
just the road less traveled, but
rather the road that had been inconceivable until Jesus introduced it. The
ancient patterns of behavior of seeking revenge; the old “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” order of the day mentality needed to give way to a new mindset, a
new way of resolving differences. Jesus understood this and, as we read in
today’s gospel, he introduces his followers to some new and innovative ways on
how to rise above the vicious and prevalent injustices of the time with this
new teaching... “Offer no resistance to
one who is evil” and “turn the other
cheek”. Does this mean to yield to evil? Not at all!
Jesus’
radical new prescription to eradicate the plagues of hatred and discrimination
is to “love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you”. Gandhi’s advice is similar. We are to introduce
positive changes in the world by the ways in which we engage the world....
through the way of love, compassion and forgiveness. Of course, this is much
easier said than done.
There
is a story told about the days following the North’s victory over the South in
America’s Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln was being pressured by many to
completely destroy the Confederacy, to decimate the enemies of the Union once
and for all. Lincoln’s answer was classic. He responded to those calling for
the annihilation of the South with these reconciling words: “Do
I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends”? Lincoln understood
very well that violence only begets more violence. The cycle never ends. How
could it in the absence of a new mindset, a new vision that lifts the victim
and the vanquished to a higher level of social and moral consciousness?
Lincoln’s
attitude toward reconciliation between the North and the South may have contributed
to an attitude that perhaps helped fashion America’s treatment of our enemies
in the twentieth century when, after the Second World War, the Marshall Plan
sent massive humanitarian aid to Europe in order to lay the foundation for a
world able to reconcile differences through mutual respect and an orderly
process of dialogue rather than mutual destruction.
Embracing
a new way of responding to problems that give rise to the endless cycle of
violence that ravages peoples, cultures, and societies is a critical component
of our faith. Through the Prophet Moses the Lord told his people to “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am
holy”. We are called to be holy as God is holy. Therefore violence and
revenge are not options. There is no better advocate for this than Christ who
became a victim for us all and who suffered torture and death at the hands of
violent people in order to show us the way of peace, forgiveness and
reconciliation.
Let
us take Christ’s words to heart and strive to put them into practice by “turning the other cheek” when others
choose the way of violence and also by praying for those who do so.
I
would like to recommend the book, Living
Justice, by Thomas Massaro, S.J. as a great Lenten read on Catholic Social
Teaching. Watching the News will never be the same!
Enjoy
the day!
Deacon
Tom
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