Friday

Matthew 5: 38 – 42

You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

How many times do we seek revenge against those who wrong us? Perhaps we don’t call it revenge, but somewhere in the back in the back of our minds we definitely think “I’m going to have to get him back for that.”

In this passage, Jesus is extremely clear. We are NOT to seek revenge. We are to treat everyone as our brother or sister in Christ, no matter how severe their actions against us.

In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot four times while blessing people in St. Peters’ Square in Rome. Following the shooting, the Pope asked the people to "pray for my brother (Ağca, his shooter), whom I have sincerely forgiven." John Paul was exemplifying the meaning of this passage. Someone tried to kill him, so he answered by praying for him, and visiting him in jail soon after.

No matter how tempted we are to fight fire with fire, we are called to love our neighbor, no matter what his actions. We are all God’s children, and all equally needy and deserving of his salvation, no matter how often we attend church, how hard we pray, or how long we fast.

AM