Before Mass:
Important backstory to the first reading – You may remember that the first king of Israel was Saul and the second king was David. What you might not remember is that for 15 years, Saul was actively trying to kill David – hunting him down – because he thought David would steal his crown. David had vowed his life to serve Saul and had led Israel to military victory many times, yet Saul couldn’t see past his fear and pride. So David went into hiding… no home… scrounging for food… always on the run. That’s where our story picks up today. Pay close attention to what David does when he has the chance to kill Saul.
Our Gospel is loaded with great one-liners from Jesus – each sentence packed with moral genius. Divine genius. The two lines I want to zero-in on are about Loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. I want to invite you to personally HEAR Jesus’ teaching today… we might have heard it a thousand times, but let it touch your heart today anew.
To prepare, let’s all pray a one minute – let’s think about who our enemy is: who is it that we want to lash out at? Maybe it’s a politician, a co-worker, a family-member, maybe even your spouse. So close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so – and pray this prayer to yourself – Holy Spirit, reveal to me now who my enemy is.
Homily
Demonstration: Two kids come up – what would you do if He hit you? You’d hit him back, right? (to other kid) And what would you do if he hit you? You’d hit him back, of course! So I want you to demonstrate something – every time you get hit, I want you to hit back - now don’t hit too hard… just a little punch in the arm. Go ahead – every time you get hit, I want you to hit back. Go. Faster…
OK stop. Let me ask you – if I didn’t say stop, how long would you keep hitting each other if you followed the rules I gave you? Forever! So – let’s try this one more time… you stick with the same rules. If you get hit – you hit back – but only if you get hit. (to other kid) YOU, however, if you get hit, turn your other arm instead of hitting back. OK you go first…
Well, this is kind of boring… Why aren’t you hitting him? Aaahhh… because you are a follower of Jesus who said to turn the other cheek rather than striking back. OK – great demonstration – have a seat.
Keep that demonstration in mind as we go on with the homily.
Imagine you witnessed constant injustice all around you – so bad that you felt like you HAD to speak out against it. Imagine you’re in a country where speaking out will likely get you killed…seriously… killed. Now imagine you actually HAD the courage to stand up for your moral beliefs and you DO speak out… and in a mock trial, you narrowly escape the death sentence and instead you are locked in a cell … tortured… mistreated… for years….and years… and while you’re in prison the injustice and violence in your country continues to grow and grow and those in charge are not held responsible. Your name is banned from being spoken.. your image wiped from the memory of everyone… well – not everyone – because your moral convictions stuck in the mind of every person who ever heard you speak, and the world called for your release….but nothing changed.
What would you do if you got released from prison… pardoned after 27 years. That’s 27 years of your life wasted in a dark cell or doing hard labor. 27 years of torture and mistreatment. 27 years missed of your kids growing up… of never seeing your wife… How would you react?! By every right, you should lash out at those who so unjustly took your life away from you.
30 years ago this month, the world waited as Nelson Mandela stepped to the microphone in front of a crowd of 50,000 – anxious to hear what he would say – what he would do.
The country was on the edge of civil war. Violence had taken on a life of its own and seemed to be a never-ending spiral – a cyclone of pain and death and destruction. It seemed impossible that the violence could be stopped…
But then something happened… He chose to forgive. This stopped the cycle of violence. He went on to become president of South Africa and led the reconciliation process. He even went so far as to invite his jailers to the inauguration and dinner!!! The first step in loving your enemy is to forgive them… to forego your right to retaliation.
I want to read part of an interview that Bill Clinton did with Nelson which I think explains it well:
Bill said to Nelson: “That was pretty smart of you to have your jailers come to the Inauguration and all of that, but let me ask you something.” “Didn’t you really hate them for what they did?”
He said, “Oh, yeah, I hated them for a long time.”
He said, “I stayed alive on hate for 12 years. I broke rocks every day, and I stayed alive on hate.”
Then he reflected further, “They took a lot away from me. They took me away from my wife, and it subsequently destroyed my marriage. They took me away from seeing my children grow up. They abused me mentally and physically. And one day,” he said, “I realized they could take it all except my mind and my heart.”
He said, “Those things I would have to give to them, and I simply decided not to give them away.”
And so – so Bill asked, “Well, what about when you were getting out of prison?” “The day you got out of prison in 1990, it was Sunday morning, and I got my daughter up early in the morning, and I took her down to the kitchen, and I turned on the television, and she was just a little girl then, and I sat her up on the kitchen counter.
And I said, ‘Chelsea, I want you to watch this. This is one of the most important things you’ll ever see in your life.’ ”
Bill said, “I watched you walk down that dirt road to freedom.” And he asked Nelson, “Now, when you were walking down there, and you realized how long you had been in their prison, didn’t you hate them then? Didn’t you feel some hatred?”
Nelson said, “Yes, I did a little bit.” He said, “I felt that.”
But he said, “As I felt the anger rising up, I thought to myself, ‘They have already had you for 27 years. And if you keep hating them, they’ll have you again.’ And I said, ‘I want to be free. And so I let it go. I let it go.” (Nelson Mandela Story of Forgiveness)
Every one of us has been hurt. By those we love, by those who attack us or anger us, or even by strangers. We all have that in common.
But we each write our own story. We can choose to be another cog in the wheel of retaliation that continues the cycle of violence. Or we can be bold and actually LIVE the teaching of that radical revolutionary, Jesus Christ when he said to LOVE YOUR ENEMY. As long as we live under the rules of retaliation, Love cannot take root. WE must break that cycle… each of us must make the intentional decision to LOVE our fellow man and fellow woman as a child of God…to forgive rather than retaliate.
Imagine if we lived that way… like David who refused to kill Saul. Like Mandella who refused to retaliate.
Imagine how we would change the world if we turned the other cheek rather than striking back.
