Sunday, January 5, 2020

Christ Rejects Revenge

Quoted from Luke 22  without references [1]:

Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

His disciples realized what was about to happen, and they asked, “Lord, shall we strike with a sword?”

And one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.

But Jesus said in reply, “Stop, no more of this!” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.

Just like the high priest's servant, those in the military around the world do as they are told.  Not everyone is a bloodthirsty killer.  A bloodthirsty killer does not necessarily have to carry a weapon like the high priests who wanted Christ dead.

Those who seek revenge may as well let the killers live out their lives and not make the assumption that the longer one lives the better off one is.  Ending a killer's life robs the killer's chance to experience remorse and repent, perhaps even to suffer the consequences of old age, as in the case of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who died from the detonation of a suicide vest. [2]

The worst punishment for a human is not a quick death whether or not expected, but living through long-term pain and suffering, continuously teeter-tottering between life and death, not being able to die quickly made unbearable by an endless fear of death.

Christ suffered but He suffered for the sake of sinners by accepting death on a cross.  Many saints also suffered, like San Francesco d'Assisi and Sainte Bernadette Soubious.  In the case of the latter, "a group of visitors came to her and asked her if she was aware of the miraculous healings that were occurring at Lourdes, and why she, the woman to whom the healing waters had been shown, did not go there for healing[, to which she] simply responded, “You see, my business is to be ill.”  [3] [Emphasis  original.]

It is unlikely that any bloodthirsty killer or warmonger with an overabundance of pride will ever utter these humble words of Sainte Bernadette Soubirous when they are suffering from constant debilitating pain.  It would be more befitting for them if they would utter the same words, omitting the word "be" and substituting "ill" with one that rhymes with it by adding the letter "K" in front of it.


[1] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/22, 48-51.
[2] https://www.npr.org/2019/10/31/775038966/isis-confirms-baghdadis-death-and-names-his-successor
[3] https://www.getfed.com/st-bernadette-lessons-suffering-6036/

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