The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. (Psalm 19)
In a world full of conflict, hatred and violent videos all over social media, we should take great comfort from these words in today’s Liturgical readings. They compel us to listen to the Lord and follow his commands.
Even the commands that are very difficult to follow, such as the theme of this reflection: “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge.”
No need to hate. Love everyone. Especially those you hate.
Day after day, the daily news brings us images of war, terrorism and senseless acts of violence carried out by those who follow their own will or some twisted version of a “god” they may or may not know much about.
How does one NOT react with anger?
Take no revenge? Cherish no grudge?
When you think about it, there probably was a time when that was not such a hard thing to accomplish in one’s heart.
Consider … there was a time when the battles of the day took place in distant lands, in open fields or on the banks of a river they may have never actually seen. News of those battles and the atrocities committed by others would take days, maybe weeks, to travel by courier.
Reported first to the leaders of the land, this news would eventually make its way into the ears of the populace – but not before sufficient time had passed.
Time, distance and the weakness of one’s imagination served God’s commands well for many trying to live faithful lives. Even with the advent of the printing press, radio and photography, the impact of tales from the front continued to be delayed and grainy, even to eager ears and eyes.
Television, of course, changed all that.
TV news came of age during America’s war with Korea in the 1950s, but it wasn’t until the Vietnam War that the horrors of war began to seep into our living space on a daily basis – and in full color.
That probably made the “no revenge, no grudge” command a bit more difficult. But not impossible.
Nothing impossible with God, after all.
Then came 24-hour Cable news.
Then came real-time coverage of Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan.
Then came 9/11, the twin towers, the airplanes turned into weapons.
Then came YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Like never before in the history of mankind, the atrocities of our time are just a click away – or posted and shared a million times within minutes.
Terrible, awful, grotesque videos and messages of hate – spread through social media in a matter of minutes … a platform of communication that is also being used as a propaganda mechanism to beget even more violence.
Hashtag #hate.
Seems it is getting more difficult than ever to “take no revenge and cherish no grudge.”
So difficult.
But yet, the God who instructed Moses to teach his people was the same God who came to us as Jesus Christ to teach us the way of love, forgiveness and turning the other cheek.
That same God is reaching out to us today, urging us to rise above the very human and understandable desire to seek revenge and retribution against those who would not think twice about harming us.
Today’s First Reading is clear, as are the teachings of Mother Church.
Perhaps the Gospel provides us with a bit of comfort. Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. Eternal judgment and eternal reward.
In which group shall our souls reside?
Pray that we are among the sheep who listen to the voice of God and take comfort in his commands. No matter how difficult.
Too bad we can’t see Tweets of salvation.
Hashtag #love … #peace … #heaven.
