20160201 THE PRINCIPLE OF NON-RETALIATION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Samuel
15:13-14,30,16:5-13 ©
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A messenger came to
tell David, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.’ So David
said to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem, ‘Let us be off, let us
fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom. Leave as quickly as you can in case
he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us and puts the city to the sword.’
David
then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered
and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made
their way up, weeping as they went.
As David
was reaching Bahurim, out came a man of the same clan as Saul’s family. His
name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he came he uttered curse after curse and
threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers, though the whole army
and all the champions flanked the king right and left. The words of his curse
were these, ‘Be off, be off, man of blood, scoundrel! the Lord has brought on
you all the blood of the House of Saul whose sovereignty you have usurped; and
the Lord has transferred that same sovereignty to Absalom your son. Now your
doom has overtaken you, man of blood that you are.’ Abishai son of Zeruiah said
to the king, ‘Is this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Let me go over and
cut his head off.’ But the king replied, ‘What business is it of mine and
yours, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse. If the Lord said to him, “Curse David,”
what right has anyone to say, “Why have you done this?”’ David said to Abishai
and all his officers, ‘Why, my own son, sprung from my body, is now seeking my
life; so now how much the more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if the Lord
has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good
for his curse today.’ So David and his men went on their way.
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Psalm
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Psalm 3:2-8 ©
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Arise, Lord; save
me, my God.
How many are my foes,
O Lord!
How many
are rising up against me!
How many are saying
about me:
‘There is
no help for him in God.’
Arise, Lord; save
me, my God.
But you, Lord, are a
shield about me,
my glory,
who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the
Lord.
He
answers from his holy mountain.
Arise, Lord; save
me, my God.
I lie down to rest
and I sleep.
I wake,
for the Lord upholds me.
I will not fear even
thousands of people
who are
ranged on every side against me.
Arise, Lord; save me,
my God.
Arise, Lord; save
me, my God.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O
Lord:
consecrate us in the
truth.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk7:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has
appeared among us;
God has visited his
people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 5:1-20 ©
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Jesus and his
disciples reached the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake,
and no sooner had Jesus left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came
out from the tombs towards him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could
secure him any more, even with a chain; because he had often been secured with
fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no
one had the strength to control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and
in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of
Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of
his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by
God you will not torture me!’ – For Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come
out of the man, unclean spirit.’ ‘What is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is
legion,’ he answered ‘for there are many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly
not to send them out of the district.
Now there
was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the unclean
spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.’ So he gave them
leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the
herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there
they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story in the town and
in the country round about; and the people came to see what had really
happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in
his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him before –
and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported what had happened
to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began to implore
Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who
had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him. Jesus would not let
him but said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in
his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and proceeded to spread
throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was
amazed.
THE
PRINCIPLE OF NON-RETALIATION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 2Sm 15:13-14.
30; 16:5-13; Ps 3:2-8; Mk 5:1-20
We
all face opposition in life, especially when we are in leadership. As leaders, we have just as many
supporters as we have detractors who will slander us, criticize us
destructively, and go against us in whatever we do in order to bring us
down. Quite often, these critics and detractors come from our own rank
and file. They cause division, make us lose focus and discourage us in
what we set out to do. Indeed, such politicking and attempts to pull each
other down cannot be avoided, whether we are in politics, in corporate life and
sadly too, even in the religious world.
In the
first reading, we have King David who was facing a rebellion. What
was even more tragic was that his own son whom he loved so much was gathering
forces to fight against him for the crown. Already, he had gone to Hebron
to crown himself king. When David realized how critical the situation was, and
that the rebellion was out of control, instead of staying back in Jerusalem to
fight the forces of Absalom, he retreated instead.
He
did not allow his ego and pride to dictate that he should stay back and fight
till the end.
Knowing Absalom’s intent was to take the crown by force, David chose not to
stay back in Jerusalem because he knew that that could mean that he and his men
would die, but more than that, the innocent inhabitants would be killed in the
process and the city of Jerusalem would be in ruins. For the greater good
of the city and the innocent inhabitants, he retreated instead to the forest by
crossing the Jordan. Even in the face of the pain of his son’s betrayal,
King David put the interests of the people and the city before his own pride
and dignity. Such an act calls for humility and, most of all, selflessness in
doing what is good, not for himself but for the people under his charge.
He bore the shame instead of causing pain. “David then made his way up
the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet
bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their
way up, weeping as they went.”
David
was a truly good king who did not allow his personal enemy to cause others to
suffer. He did
not allow personal grievances to involve those who were innocent. As
leaders we must remember that when we have disagreements with those under our
charge or within our ranks, we must contain that conflict or quarrel within and
among ourselves. We should never take personal disagreements and
differences into the public arena. It is not right to wash dirty linen in
public and cause others to suffer because of our personal problems. We
should not cause others to suffer on our account, especially when they have
nothing to do with our woes. Maturity in leadership is when we know
whether a matter is of public interest to be settled openly or a micro matter
which should be settled among those involved. Indeed, we should in
charity always settle our scores with our opponents and enemies without
scandalizing and hurting innocent people.
David
showed true statesmanship when slandered and insulted and cursed even by an
ordinary citizen, a man belonging to the clan of Saul’s family. Yet, when asked by his
officers whether they should retaliate and kill him, David’s answer showed his
magnanimity and great humility. Instead of reacting to such unreasonable
curses and false accusations, he took everything in silence and without
revenge.
Surely
David must have felt hurt at such remarks and unjust accusations. In
truth, he was always protecting and shielding King Saul. He was
faithful to Saul right to the end. But instead of responding to him
by cursing him back or even killing him, David said to all his officers, “Why,
my own son, sprung from my body, is now seeking my life; so now how much the
more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if the Lord has told him to.
Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good for his curse
today.” David could even put himself in the shoes of his enemies,
feeling their pain whilst forgetting his own pain and suffering from the
betrayal of his son. Most of all, he blessed those who cursed him; and
even saw their curses as means to grow in humility and an occasion to ask for
the grace of God and His mercy.
His
attitude and actions remind us of Jesus on the cross when He said, “Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) To the women of
Jerusalem, He said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for
yourselves and for your children.” (Lk 23:28) St Peter
wrote, “For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than
for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for
the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Pt 3:17f) St Paul
in the same vein expressed this sentiment when he wrote, “Bless those who
persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Rom 12:14) “Do not
repay anyone evil for evil.” (Rom 12:17)
“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for
it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” (Rom 12:19)
Indeed,
in today’s gospel, we see Jesus acting in a most compassionate manner even
with His enemies, the Unclean Spirit. When begged to be sent into the
pigs, instead of destroying them Jesus granted them their wish. By so
doing, Jesus demonstrated not only His power over the Unclean Spirit but He
also sought to cause the least harm in helping the possessed man. His
task was to make sure that the man remained unharmed and no others would get
hurt again. So the least harmful place would be the pigs. Of
course, that decision of His did not please the Gentile villagers whose
livelihood depended on the pigs, unlike the Jews who saw pigs as unclean
animals. Ironically, instead of asking Jesus to remain behind after
witnessing His power over the evil spirit, out of fear for their source of
income and livelihood they chose to drive out Jesus rather than the unclean
spirit! “They saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his full senses –
the very man who had had the legion in him before – and they were afraid.
Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood.” But Jesus,
without any anger or displeasure, left the territory quietly. He did not
react with disappointment at their lack of gratitude and sobriety in
judgment. He chose the way of non-violence, of non-retaliation, both
towards the Evil Spirit and the people.
Yet,
it is precisely in non-retaliation that God works His ways for our good. We read that Jesus would not
allow the man who was freed from the unclean spirit to follow Him.
Instead, He told the man, “Go home to your people and tell them all that the
Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and proceeded to
spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And
everyone was amazed.” Jesus did not have to insist that He remained behind to
proclaim the Gospel but He left it to the man who perhaps did a better job than
if Jesus were to do it Himself. This man was known to everyone that he
was possessed and dumb. That he could now speak and was restored was
perhaps the best testimony to the power of God at work in Jesus, more than any
words that Jesus could have said. And if the testimony was from one of
their villagers, they would surely believe his words more so than if they had
heard from Jesus Himself. This principle of non-retaliation works
effectively because it shows that success and conversion is the power of God;
not of man. Love overcomes all evil at the end of the day. As St
Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:21) What we
humanly think is a failure, cowardice, a loss of face or foolishness, for God,
it is His wisdom and power.
Hence,
in our struggles against our enemies, like David, we are called to put our
faith in God alone, not in man, not in our strength or in our revengeful ways.
With the psalmist, let us leave judgement to Him alone. We pray, “Arise,
Lord; save me, my God. How many are my foes, O Lord! How many are
rising up against me! How many are saying about me: ‘There is no
help for him in God.’ But you, Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, who lift
up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord. He answers from his holy
mountain. I lie down to rest and I sleep. I wake, for the Lord
upholds me. I will not fear even thousands of people who are ranged on
every side against me.”
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