Lk.6: 27-38
Mrs. Peggy Clores shares a touching memory of her mother, Mrs. Yvette Assael. She was a Greek Jew and a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp along with her two siblings. Her parents were killed in the concentration camp. Clores’ father, James Lennon, who was an Irish World War II sergeant, met Yvette, when he went to Greece to settle Greek Jews after their liberation. They married after four years in 1947. She accepted the Catholic way of life eventually. After the Auschwitz experience, it was difficult for Yvette to remain in Greece with her haunted memories. Therefore, after a while, they migrated to London and, later, to America.
Once, they were coming out of a London bakery after their shopping. She spotted a beggar outside the bakery. Knowing well the pain of starvation, she walked close to the beggar to share the bread that she bought for the family. Immediately, she stopped, her face turned white, and she experienced a sudden shock in her body. ‘Yvette, what happened? Her husband asked. She stood frozen and just stared at the man. Then she slowly walked towards him and handed the bread to him. As they were walking back home, she spoke to James. “I recognised that man. He was one of the Nazis in Auschwitz.” He was surprised to hear this. She continued: “I was torn between pity for the agony of his starvation and the evil we all endured from him. I then realised that if I didn’t forgive him, if I didn’t somehow find the strength to forgive all of them, they would have taken the rest of my life from me.” It was an extra-ordinary Christian testimony of forgiveness towards the unforgiven.
“Forgiveness is the restoration of freedom to oneself: It is the key held in our own hand to our prison cell.” (St. John Paul II)
The second part of the beatitude exhorts us to grow into the identity of the children of God. ‘To be a child of God is not merely a phrase or literary style that Jesus used; rather, it is a radical call to grow into our heavenly identity by imitating the unconditional love and boundless kindness of God in our lives. In the Old Testament, we come across a law based on justice. The book of Leviticus states: “Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered.” (Lev. 24: 19,20) However, Jesus exhorts his disciples to go beyond this Levitical law and to grow into their identity as children of God by imitating his own love and kindness.
When we encounter violence, anger, or hatred, in our daily life situations, the basic tendency in us is to retaliate with the same intensity or more. We see the entire world is running on this principle of tit for tat. We see countries exacting vengeance on their adversaries and harbouring hatred for centuries. Sometimes, political leaders try to raise patriotic feelings in their subjects by raising hatred against their enemies. It is said that every war or revenge begins in the mind of a single individual, and it spreads to the entire country. These revengeful feelings can be observed between states, societies, tribal groups, families, and individuals. In the recent context of Russia waging war against Ukraine, the US trying to eradicate Islamic states in return of their try terrorist attacks, the recent brutal political murders in our states wherein human beings are hunted like animals, and even after killing the person, expressing their extreme anger by mutilating the dead body, etc. individuals are unable to forgive and keep this hatred for a long time.
The commandment that Jesus gave two thousand years ago is still relevant. ‘Love your enemies.’ In this hostile environment, a Christ-follower should try to win his or her adversary over with radical love. We are called to do good to everyone, even those who harm us through their words and deeds. It can happen that we may hurt the emotions of others with our words. Jesus asks us to extend unconditional forgiveness to all. ‘Bless those who curse, pray for those speaking against us, show the other cheek also to the one blast on our cheek. ’ Anyhow, world history testifies to great heroes who radically followed these words of Jesus and became legends in history, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela, John Paul II, Mother Theresa, Gladys Satin, etc. The first reading presents to us an example of this godly love from the life storey of King David. King Saul was trying to kill David by all means because of his jealousy. Once, David got a golden opportunity to kill Saul, and his commander, Abishai, persuaded King David to eliminate King Saul so that he could be peaceful and become the king of Israel. However, David did not attack the anointed one of Yahweh and left his destiny to Yahweh. Is it possible for us to forgive and love our enemies unconditionally?
Secondly, God’s love does not expect anything in return. We say human love is always conditional because we love people and expect something in return for our love. Therefore, we buy and give gifts to family members, relatives, and friends. We are sure that these people love us and express their love for us through their words and deeds. Jesus gives us the challenge to love others without expecting anything in return. We are called to reach out to those who are outside of our family and friends’ circle. The second reading of the day exhorts us to imitate the second Adam, who is Jesus, the Son of God, who accepted human flesh and dignified our humanity by imitating his Father’s love in human form.
Finally, imitating God’s boundless mercy and being merciful like our heavenly Father. Don’t pass judgment, don’t condemn, don’t accuse, and give generously. Therefore, we too will be treated in the same manner by our Heavenly Father. In our times of need and difficulty, we will experience God’s mercy through others. Finally, we will receive God’s mercy on the day of judgement instead of condemnation. When we are generous with others, God will also be generous with us beyond our measures. As we meditate on this Word of God today, we may tend to think that it is impossible to practise. It is true that men who lived this radicality are a minority, but they became Altur Christus, another Christ. We have no option to excuse ourselves from this radical love because the supreme commandment of Jesus: “I give you new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you.” (Jn.13:34) Therefore, we will be judged by the love with which we live this life.