ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square -- Sunday,
19 February 2017
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| PHOTO: thedivinemercy.org |
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good
morning!
In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt
5:38-48) — one of the passages that best illustrates Christian “revolution” —
Jesus shows us the way of true justice through the law of love which is greater
than the law of retaliation, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. This
ancient law imposed the infliction on wrongdoers of a punishment equivalent to
the damage they caused: death for those who killed, amputation for those who
injured, and so on. Jesus does not ask his disciples to abide evil, but asks
them to react; however, not with another evil action, but with good. This is
the only way to break the chain of evil: one evil leads to another which leads
to another evil.... This chain of evil is broken and things truly begin to
change. Evil is, in fact, a “void”, a void of good. It is not possible to fill
a void, except with “fullness”, that is, good. Revenge never leads to conflict
resolution. “You did this to me, I will do it back to you”: this never resolves
conflict, nor is it even Christian.
According to Jesus, the rejection
of violence can also involve the sacrifice of a legitimate right. He gives a
few examples of this: turn the other cheek, give up your coat or money, accept
other sacrifices (v. 39-42). But such sacrifice does not mean that the demands
of justice should be ignored or contradicted. No, on the contrary, Christian
love, which manifests itself in a special way in mercy, is an achievement
superior to justice. What Jesus wants to teach us is the clear distinction that
we must make between justice and revenge.
Distinguishing between justice and revenge. Revenge is never just. We are
permitted to ask for justice. It is our duty to exercise justice. We are,
however, not permitted to avenge ourselves or, in any way foment revenge, as it
is an expression of hatred and violence.
Jesus does not wish to propose a
new system of civil law, but rather the commandment to love thy neighbour,
which also includes loving enemies: “Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you”. (v. 44) And this is not easy. These words should not be seen as
an approval of evil carried out by an enemy, but as an invitation to a loftier
perspective, a magnanimous perspective, similar to that of the Heavenly Father,
who, Jesus says, “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust”. (v. 45). An enemy, in fact, is also a
human being, created as such in God’s image, despite the fact that in the
present, that image may be tarnished by shameful behaviour.
When we speak of “enemies”, we
should not think about people who are different or far removed from us; let us
also talk about ourselves, as we may come into conflict with our neighbour, at
times with our relatives. How many hostilities exist within families — how
many! Let us think about this. Enemies are also those who speak ill of us, who
defame us and do us harm. It is not easy to digest this. We are called to
respond to each of them with good, which also has strategies inspired by love.
May the Virgin Mary help us
follow Jesus on this demanding path, which truly exalts human dignity and lets
us live as children of our Father who art in Heaven. May she help us exercise
patience, dialogue, forgiveness, and to be artisans of communion, artisans of
fraternity in our daily life, and above all in our families.
After the Angelus:
Appeal
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Unfortunately, news of violent clashes in the
Kasaï-Central region of the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to arrive. I
feel deep pain for the victims, in particular, for the many children torn from
their families and schools to be used as soldiers. This is a
tragedy: child soldiers. I ensure my closeness and my prayers also for the
religious and humanitarian workers who operate in that difficult region; and I
renew a heartfelt appeal to the conscience and to the responsibility of the
national authorities and the international community, to take appropriate and
timely decisions to rescue these brothers and sisters. Let us pray for them and
for all people who, also in other parts of the African continent and in the
world, suffer as a result of violence and war. I am thinking, in particular, of
the people of Pakistan and Iraq who have been struck by cruel acts of terrorism
in the past few days. Let us pray for the victims, the injured and their
families. Let us pray ardently that every heart hardened by hatred may be
converted to peace, according to God’s will. Let us pray for a moment in
silence.
[Hail Mary....]
I greet you all, families,
associations, parish groups and individual pilgrims from Italy and various
parts of the world.
In particular, I greet the
students from Armagh, Ireland.
I wish everyone a happy Sunday, a
beautiful day! [He points to the blue sky.] Please, do not forget to
pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
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