This week Deacon Scott Little of the diocese of Venice, Florida is giving a five day mission in our parish. The following is his weekend homily. Scott is a dear friend and truly a man of God. Thank you Scott.
Today we
continue to listen to the teaching of Matthews’ Jesus, here in
ordinary time.
Matthew has moved past the extraordinary teaching of the beatitudes and his
teaching about what his disciples are to be in the world. The gospel
now moves into a section of teaching that seems to be mostly about
our interior. Jesus does a teaching about anger, about adultery and
divorce, and taking oaths. In this gospel he speaks to us about
retaliation and holding enemies. As usual it’s a pretty remarkable
teaching.
It's
important to remember that Jesus lived in a shame and honor society,
even more than in the current day. Maintaining your honor was
extremely important. That
would have been the mindset at the time.
We
should remember that the phrase "An eye for an eye tooth and a
tooth for a tooth", was not a requirement, it was a
limitation in the Jewish law. They
believed that there needed to be equivalency, but
Jesus Christ as usual was trying to teach us about our souls and the
effect that held anger, resentment and retaliation have on our
ability to be connected with our heavenly Father. His teaching
was elegant because it did provide for a strong statement to be made
to the person who was guilty of taking advantage.
Turning the other cheek to an aggressor required that aggressor to change hands to render a blow. They only struck backhanded. Turning the other cheek would require them to switch hands, which was never done in their culture.
No
one would ever demand a person’s cloak along with their tunic
because a cloak was so essential for a persons welfare. It
was essentially a person’s sleeping bag. It was
essential for each person’s welfare. There was also a set limit on how far anyone could be conscripted to
carry anything. That limit was one mile. So
Jesus saying they offer a second mile was a suggestion that
the conscripted person make an offering that was outrageous and sure
to point out the unreasonableness of the demand .
So
there was a real activism in the responses that Jesus called for, but they were not responses that would damage the aggressor or
would damage the afflicted person's interior. The
response was aimed at changing the person’s heart, by forcing
them to be open to the person that they had afflicted.
God
calls us to holiness because our growth in holiness determines the
orderliness of our world.
Jesus
Christ’s teaching on this actually was demonstrated very recently
and the media reported widely on it.
Some
may remember Dylann Roof, who was just sentenced to death for the
killing of nine members of a church in Charleston South Carolina.
He insisted on representing himself during his trial.
On
June 17, 2005, nine members of the Emmanuel African Methodist
Episcopal church in Charleston were shot to death while participating
in a Bible study in the basement of their church. The shooter
was a 21-year-old, self-proclaimed white supremacist. He
wandered into the room that evening. Imagine this if you
can. Nine
black church goers were in the midst of prayer and study. They looked
up to see a white man in jeans and a sweatshirt. Did they ask him to
leave, did they threaten to call the police if he did not leave? No, they actually invited him to join them. For a time he
did just that. He actually participated in their Bible study.
Just as they were finishing their study and had their heads bowed in prayer he pulled a gun out of his fanny pack, and one by one shot every single person in the room. Can you imagine the anguish of the families of those nine people? It is beyond comprehension. That is what makes the next part of the story so stunning.
Only
three days later, when invited to share a statement at the shooter's
bond hearing, the family members, one by one, turned to the shooter
and said "I forgive you". Somehow their great call to
Christian holiness prevented them from falling into hatred
themselves. How
could anyone knowing the circumstances expect them to do such a
thing? It
certainly would seem too much to ask of anyone, even a churchgoer, but these people were somehow able to
do that. And
what was the result of this heroic act of holiness? You
might recall that less than one month later the South Carolina
Legislature determined that the state of South Carolina would never
again fly the Confederate flag.
The
symbol of the Confederate flag has historically meant freedom and
sacrifice to so many white people in South Carolina. In a real
sense their flag represented their right to self determination,
to freedom of choice and their own freedom to govern themselves as
they saw fit. That
same flag meant oppression and intimidation to people of color in
the same state. In a very real sense, the
flag meant the need to be afraid. Yet many people
in South Carolina refused to identify with that concern and that
viewpoint. No
one ever believed that South Carolina would ever abandon that symbol, but
after the heroic act of the family members of these nine people, and
out of of sensitivity to their brothers and sisters, a
predominately white legislature voted to take that symbol down
forever. It was only 23 days after the shootings. There was no
filibuster, there was no demonstration in the streets. They just took
it down. It was removed reverently and folded
to be stored as part of history there in the state house. Something
that had seemed impossible became possible through a community
compelled by the Christian statement of a few families. This
was Jesus, teaching, manifest in our modern world. The result
was there for everyone to see.
It
is so important for us to believe the teachings of our Savior, and
that they really can change the world. Just as important,
is our remembering how much the abandonment of anger and retribution
will change our hearts as well. It's
not that we don't recognize wrong; more that we
recognize it without abandoning our dignity and attachment to a God
who only loves. He teaches us how important
it is to push ourselves to be willing to love more as he loves.
As
we move forward in our spiritual lives, and as we receive the love of
God in the Eucharist, let's examine ourselves to see if we are
holding resentment. Let’s check to see if we hold a
desire for retribution and unforgiveness in our hearts. May
we realize how much it damages ourselves and the world when we do. Let’s
ask for the grace to understand and believe the teachings of our
Lord and
to know the peace of Christ.
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