[A reflection on the Gospel for Sexagesima Sunday (Luke 6.27-38), February 23, 2025]
Very few statements of Jesus are more controversial that turning the other cheek. Our first impulse as humans when our boundaries are violated is to re-establish them as forcefully as possible. When slapped, slap back. When coerced, supply what is coerced and no more. When hated, return the hatred double. Our history is one long, slow, sorrowful history of these violations and the escalation of retribution, often resulting in great loss for all sides.
Today is no different, and the stakes are just as high. Government coercion and pillage by taxation in the United States has reached a new level. Where the social contract at one time provided benefits and entitlements for the tax dollars taken in, that is rapidly vanishing in place of lining the pockets of this century's version of the robber-baron. Worse yet, the society has lost its safeguards against the worst manifestations of its inherent xenophobia, where love of neighbour is replaced by hate and mistrust of neighbour and many are being evicted from this land to an uncertain (or very certain and very dire) fate.
Such evils were rampant in Jesus' time as well. Rome's cruelty was unmatched, both at the macro and micro levels. Resentment and hatred bubbled consistently under the surface, and Our Lord was well aware of it. So what did He counsel?
He counselled nothing. He mandated. He commanded.
"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."
Everything that follows, including the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.") are expansions and illustrations on this command. Nothing Our Lord commanded is more difficult than this. To us it seems to give the evil among us carte blanche to do any number of unspeakable things without opposition, to give way to them, to hand over everything to them to the destruction of us all.
So it seems.
The issue is that good in the face of evil never goes unnoticed. Injustice to the just always stands out. The forgiveness of the evil by those following the path of righteousness is known to turn hearts. The process seems slow, but the witness of the martyrs always bears fruit in striking a chord in hearts and souls and getting them to turn from the path of evil and espouse the path of good, if for nothing else the sheer power of the inspiration. There is also the effect of convincing others that evil is evil and the work of dismantling it takes on new energy. We saw this with the Abolitionist Movement. We saw this with the Suffrage Movement. We saw this with the Civil Rights Movement. We can see this again. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in all his heart in the message of Our Lord and tried to embody it, turning the other cheek while still proclaiming the prophetic word of truth.
That is the secret. This is not some simple roll-over-and-play-dead, but the offering of an alternate Way along with the proclamation of that way, calling out evil for what it is, and yet still showing the love for the enemy that can turn enough hearts to undercut the strength of those who espouse evil. Every age requires brave souls to take this stand, and this age is no different in that regard.
Turn the other cheek? It is better rendered "Love your enemies." Pray for the conversion of their hearts, and show them how it is done.
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