At our daily Mass during the week, we heard a continual reading from the book of Genesis (chapters 4, 6, 8, 9,11). It has been striking to notice the change in the image of God that is projected in the texts. God becomes upset with the human beings that he has created. Now God wants to destroy them because of their evil ways. Noah has found favor with God. So, a remnant is saved, both of human beings and other animal creatures. After the flood God has a change of mind and heart. He will no longer destroy human and created life. God tells Noah that he set a covenant in the form of a rainbow in the heavens; the rainbow becomes a symbol and a reminder of this eternal covenant with God who will not abandon humanity and creation.
Then comes Jesus…In today’s gospel (Lk 6:27-38) we have a teaching that embodies who Jesus is and who his Abba is. The gospel centers around this phrase: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk 6:27-28). This gospel projects into our lived lives and prayer an image of the God of love. This love that depicts the nature of who God is extends beyond our human understanding. What, love my enemies? The nature of this Divine love is unconditional love. There is no guarantee of a return, in other words, if you do this then you will receive this. It is unrequited, it is total gift, nothing expected in return. This reality of who God is shatters our normal ways of acting and thinking. In the political realm if one country strikes the other strikes back. It is the same in our ordinary relations: in our families, our communities, our personal lives, when hurt we lash back in word or even deed, or we let it stew within our hearts wishing bad things on the one who hurt me. We all go through this. No one is exempt from being afflicted with this ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth’ dynamic.
The writer Charles Williams who was part of the famous ‘Inklings’ group of writers in England wrote seven novels which are all around the theme of ‘good and evil’. His novels contain theological themes. In one of his prose writings, he said the following: “For evil to be transformed, someone or something must suffer its impact” (source unknown). This is what Jesus taught and lived fully and as his followers we are called to live and teach the same. This is the cross that we are to take up, suffering evil until it is transformed. Jesus on the cross, his arms extended, wide open…wide open in unconditional love and unconditional mercy. Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar in his commentary on this gospel uses the word ‘magnanimity’ in describing the immense generosity of God (Light of the Word, p.279-281). The generosity of God is the magnanimity of God’s love. This is Jesus, this is the God he reveals to us, a God magnanimous in love and mercy. Von Balthasar tells us that “magnanimity is a form of imitation of God” (p.279). And he adds, “The issue here is not outer acts of magnanimity, but an inner attitude, which is now compared to God’s attitude” (p.280). We need to grow in magnanimity in heart, mind and soul which then flows into outer acts of unrequited love and mercy.
What do we learn from our Cistercian monastic forebears, ancient and new? Bernard of Clairvaux describes peacemakers in this way: the peacemaker “is always ready to repay good for evil and to help the one who hurts him…he not only possesses his own soul but wins many more” (In the School of Love, p.151). And then there is the “Testament of Fr. Christian de Chergé” where he writes: “I have lived long enough to know that I am an accomplice in the evil which seems, alas, to prevail in the world, even in the evil which might blindly strike me down. I would like, when the time comes, to have a moment of spiritual clarity which would allow me to beg forgiveness of God and of my fellow human beings, and at the same time forgive with all my heart the one who would strike me down” (How Far to Follow, p.127). I find Bernard’s expression of describing the peacemaker as one who possess her own soul profound. We might ponder this week what he means by this. The last thought I leave you with is that Fr. Christian indeed possessed his own soul and may his last testament help to win over us as well.
Sr. Kathy DeVico, Abbess
Chapter Talk – Seventh Sunday of the Year – February 23, 2025, cycle-C
