OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD! ~ CookingFood.Org

“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”

Daily Reflections

Monday, 19^thJune 2017.

Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

2 Cor 6: 1-10;

Ps 98: 1-4;

Mt 5: 38-42

OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD!

Today’s gospel tells us the way to pass from the ancient justice of the Pharisees (Mt 5: 20) to the new justice of the Kingdom of God. It describes the way to the Mountain of the Beatitudes, from where Jesus announces the new Law of Love. The summit is described in one phrase: “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5: 48)

Vengeance asks for “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. But, Jesus asks us to pay back evil not with evil, but with good. Faithful to the teaching of Jesus, Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans: “Never pay back evil with evil; let your concern be to do good to all men. Do not allow yourselves to be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12: 17-21). Let us ask ourselves: Have I some time felt within me such a great anger as to want to apply the vengeance “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”? What did I do to overcome this?

What does it mean to “turn the other cheek?” Literally speaking Jesus is a perfect example of this. Not only was He slapped on the cheek, He was also brutally beaten and hung on a cross. And His response was, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Therefore, Jesus does not call us to do anything that He Himself was not willing to do. Turning the other cheek does not mean that we need to cover up another’s abusive actions or words. We ought not pretend that they have done nothing wrong. Jesus Himself, in forgiving and in asking the Father to forgive, acknowledged the grave injustice He received at the hands of sinners. But the key is that He did not allow Himself to be drawn into their hatred.

Often times, when we feel like another flings mud at us, we are tempted to fling it right back. We are tempted to fight back. But the key to overcoming the malice and cruelty of another is to refuse to be drawn down into the mud. Turning the other cheek is a way of saying that we refuse to degrade ourselves by foolish bickering or arguing. Instead, we choose to allow another to reveal their malice to themselves and to others by peacefully accepting it and forgiving. This is not to say that Jesus wants us to perpetually live in abusive relationships that are more than we can handle. But it does mean that we will all encounter injustice from time to time and we need to handle it with mercy and immediate forgiveness, and not become drawn into returning malice for malice. Let us reflect upon how ready we are to forgive and to turn the other cheek.

Prayer: Lord, help me to imitate Your great mercy and forgiveness. Help me to forgive those who have hurt me and help me to rise above any injustice I encounter. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.