But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil

17 JUNE (Mt 5,38-42)

To understand the Gospel which today is offered for our meditation and reflection we employ a sublime word of God. More than beautiful and wonderful word, divine in its essence; is the revelation of his behavior before his fierce anger, ready to harm his people because of his numberless sins.

“Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with fortunetellers and soothsayers, like the Philistines; they covenant with strangers. Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they worship the works of their hands, that which their fingers have made. But man is abased, each one brought low. (Do not pardon them!) Get behind the rocks, hide in the dust, From the terror of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty! The haughty eyes of man will be lowered, the arrogance of men will be abased, and the Lord alone will be exalted, on that day. For the Lord of hosts will have his day against all that is proud and arrogant, all that is high, and it will be brought low; The idols will perish forever.

Men will go into caves in the rocks and into holes in the earth, From the terror of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he arises to overawe the earth. On that day men will throw to the moles and the bats the idols of silver and gold which they made for worship. They go into caverns in the rocks and into crevices in the cliffs, From the terror of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he arises to overawe the earth. As for you, let man alone, in whose nostrils is but a breath; for what is he worth? (Cf. Is 2,1-22).

Go, my people, enter your chambers, and close your doors behind you; Hide yourselves for a brief moment, until the wrath is past. See, the Lord goes forth from his place, to punish the wickedness of the earth’s inhabitants; The earth will reveal the blood upon her, and no longer conceal her slain (Is 26,20-21).

The acting of God must be the most pure human behavior. The Lord rightly must intervene to put order in his creation. He must give vent to his anger. What does it do? He invites his people to hide for a while until his wrath has calmed down. Then there will be room for forgiveness, mercy and compassion again. Anger moves the Lord to do all righteousness. Mercy moves him to pity and compassion. Israel must help his God by hiding and avoiding being seen.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

No man must give free vent to his anger, thirst of revenge, reprisal against the evil person. He must always be docile, submissive, foldable. Who answers to evil with evil, inflames hearts to a greater evil. On the contrary, who turns off evil with surrender and forgiveness, prevents a greater harm to come to his person. Surrendering one always receives a lesser evil and greater, heavy, hard to bear evils are avoided. Some one might argue: but in doing do not we let the wicked to always do evil? The Lord wakes above the evil person. He is the one who at the appropriate time comes and stops him in a divine and not human way. If we do not put a clear, true vision of faith in our relationships, we are also dragged to see history only through the eyes of flesh. History can be lived only if you look at it with the eyes of faith. God is the Lord of man and of history.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us most pure eyes of faith.