In
today’s first reading, King Saul has been stalking David, his rival, who has
been hiding in the desert. Saul had
already tried to kill David several times.
This time the king has gone out to the desert with a party of three
thousand men to search for David.
Saul realizes
that David has won the hearts of his people, who sang, “Saul has killed his
thousands but David his ten thousands.” And, Saul also knows the hand of the Lord now
rests on David.
Saul and David
have become deadly enemies. David crept
into the camp of Saul and his three thousand men. He stands over the sleeping king, looking
down on him. His loyal and ruthless
kinsman Abishai whispers to him: “God has delivered your enemy into your grasp
this day. Let me nail him to the ground
with one thrust of the spear.”
But David will
not allow it. He says: “Do not harm him,
for who can lay hands on the Lord’s
anointed and remain unpunished?” David
has a chance to kill his enemy. But he
doesn’t kill him.
Instead, David
takes Saul’s spear, the symbol of the king’s authority and power, used in
battle. He goes a distance and calls
across to the camp. David says to Saul: “The
Lord will reward each man for his
justice and faithfulness. Today, though
the Lord delivered you into my
grasp, I would not harm the Lord’s
anointed.”
This incident
provides an example of what Jesus is asking of us in today’s Gospel which is
from what is called the Sermon on the Plain.
We find in these few verses an agenda for transforming the world.
This Sermon on
the Plain is included in three successive Gospel readings. Last week we heard of God’s love for the
least: the poor, those who weep, who hunger, who suffer for Jesus’ sake. Next week the emphasis is on loving those inside
our camp, those who agree with us. This week’s reading directs our attention to
those outside our camp, those who disagree with us.
If we have any
enemies, either as individuals or as a community, we are to love them. In this light, David is offered to us as an
example of such love in action. Jesus'
words are demanding—seemingly impossible at times. But it can be helpful to realize that this command doesn’t speak about transforming
an enemy into a friend. It says to love
your enemy precisely as enemy.
That is, you are to love
the one who hates you.
Often, it is
easy for us to criticize and maybe even hate those we disagree with. This is especially true, as Christians, when
we witness the actions of those who are openly disobeying and maybe even
ridiculing God's laws. But, instead, we
are meant to pray for, even bless them.
He or she may be
a politician who consistently supports abortion or a movie star who openly
attacks the Catholic church. Or maybe we
see a posting on Facebook which attacks our beliefs. If we choose to respond, can we respond in
love and not hate?
All of us should
focus on breaking the cycle of hate which seems to be prevalent today. If we lash
out at those who disagree with us on sensitive topics, we are likely to unleash
a torrent of hate. These skirmishes can
sting, cause harm, and provoke vengeance in return.
Such moments
also have an impact on us, they transform us.
A certain kind of dislike can harden or fester within, resulting in an ongoing habit of striking out
as a method of coping. It releases a
poison into our system, settling into our heart and changing it. A heart can become cold or hard over the
years.
This cannot be
the heart of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us to "Do to others as you would have them do to
you." Violence and destruction are
only brought to an end by those who refuse to participate, by those who will
not return evil for evil. Violence will
cease only with those who are willing to absorb the impact of the blow so that
it stops here and now, not going any further.
Does
this mean that there is no room for hatred in life? No, there are things to hate. We can hate
a system that allows a young child to
die in an abusive home; a cultural attitude that fosters hatred for any
group—whether on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, religious faith, or gender; policies that allows the killing of innocent people, especially
the unborn and the elderly.
We might, at times, tolerate these
systems, and even inadvertently support them.
Systems can be worthy of hatred. So can policies. And cultural attitudes
and values. And the things people do can also be worthy of our hatred.
But as for the people: Love your
enemies, do good to them, bless them, pray for them. The old saying is: love the sinner, hate the sin.
Sometimes
transformation does come. At the end of the story, after David speaks to Saul,
Saul’s final words to David are: “Blessed be you, my son David. You will do many things and will succeed in
them”.
We witness transformation whenever we
come here: bread and wine changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. May all of us, as disciples of Jesus, grow in
love, for each other and for all others, especially our enemies.
