• English
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Español
Gustavo Papa 01
You are here:Home / Family News / NEF 2014 / Family News - 2014 April 14th / A word from the Superior General
Apr 14, 2014

A word from the Superior General

Insulted he did not retaliate with insults

The canticle for the second Vespers for the Sundays in Lent invites us to reflect on the Word of God in 1 Peter 2, 21-24 instead of the canticle of the Wedding feast of the Lamb:

This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and left an example for you to follow in his steps. He had done nothing wrong, and had spoken no deceit. He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was suffering he made no threats but put his trust in the upright judge. He was bearing our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might die to our sins and live for uprightness; through his bruises you have been healed.

Jesus therefore assumes our sin in the heart of his humiliation, without ever deflecting from fidelity to the Father. Self sacrifice is one of his most original qualities. Did he not say: “Take up my yoke; become my disciples, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will have rest.” (Matt 11,29)

Jesus is meek because he is neither violent nor aggressive. When faced with an insult he doesn’t give way to movements of revenge which is normally what we do. On the contrary, he accepts humiliations making him look to be a loser. In truth, forgiving looks like that: accepting to lose face so as to put an end to the spiral of violence. He who fights evil with evil will only reap more evil. Evil can only be overcome by goodness. In our daily lives we are both victim and torturer. Trying and at all costs to be right doesn’t help us to lead fraternal and peaceful lives. Relying on our rights we make life a hell, shutting ourselves in and becoming a nuisance for others. It then becomes necessary for someone to break this spiral of violence, someone ready to lose to the point of giving up his rights.

There are those who think that forgiving means forgetting, and since they cannot forget they come to the conclusion that it is impossible to forgive. It is impossible to forget a personal insult. To forgive is something much bigger and more difficult than to forget. Without meaning to forget, to forgive will always mean being able to avoid dwelling on the wound of a humiliation, by overcoming it by renouncing vengeance which simply means rendering evil for evil and only wishing him well. This is the love for enemies which Jesus asks of us in his Sermon on the Mountain: I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. ” (Matt. 5, 43 – 45)

The father of the two sons in the parable is also a gentle soul; he accepts the loss of his rights so as to respect the dignity of his sons (Luke 15, 11 ff) who have no respect for their father’s dignity. « As Thomas Aquinas states in a similar situation mercy is the greatest of all the virtues: taken on its own mercy is the greatest of all the virtues, for it has the right to give to others and to ease their needs. Consequently to be merciful is considered to be an attribute of God and this is the means whereby his power is manifested». (Evangelii Gaudium, 17 and note 41)

He who does his Father’s will can afford to be good to his brother. He can present himself before God without looking for special privileges. The man who is gentle can face others disarmed, defenceless, and vulnerable. He is not like someone looking for his rights, more like someone ready to renounce his rights. Such a willingness to give way is evidence of an unknown and mysterious power. It’s like that of the young man wanting to shoulder his brother’s burden, who accepts the tasks that no one else wants. There is a particular task belonging to the gentle: the ability to see what is good in his neighbour. (Phil 2, 3; Rom 12,19) even when the neighbour turns out to be arrogant, hostile, hoping that he will improve, even if it’s only a glimmer! The gentle individual doesn’t try to cause the downfall of someone weakened by his own violence, even if he will suffer unfavourable consequences and drink the chalice down to the dregs. He will take patience, accept the situation and bite the dust if needs be, despite all that keep his calm. Gentleness is the fundamental attitude for a calm dialogue.

All this requires a genuine discernment so as to know when to speak and when to be silent. Jesus remained silent while the others were speaking as we can see him in his Passion. Speaking is not always the ideal no more than to be silent. We must speak or be silent through fidelity to the truth and to love which is seeking the good of others, and not simply our own good. How are we to speak the truth if it means humiliating the neighbour? To speak when I am not in control of myself or when the other is not in a fit state to listen would be a denial of the truth or make use of it for my own selfish ends. To remain silent when I am in a fit state to speak and the other ready to listen, would be a cowardly action depriving him of something good which only my words would get him. It is a good thing to speak out accepting the possible consequences if the other person refuses what I am saying. It is the price of such misunderstanding that Jesus has been persecuted, condemned and finally crucified. Truth reigns supreme and cannot be cancelled. That is the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead by his Father.

Jesus, meek and humble, appears to be aggressive in the Gospels when he drives the merchants out of the Temple or when he denounces the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Mat 23, 1-36) “Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man ‘Stretch out your hand” He stretched out his hand and his hand was better.’” (Mark 3,1-5) The disciple, meek and humble like his master, if he is not like a prophet who humiliates and covers with shame, knows how to be frank and upright when needs be. He doesn’t look to results, he doesn’t try to appear good but treats violence with the gentle energy of mercy.

St Michael Garicoits says that mercy is the trade mark of Our Lord distinguishing him from Elias or John the Baptist. They were both full of the spirit of rigour, pain and punishment. John the Baptist was well equipped for severely correcting sinners. Whereas Our Lord had a spirit of mercy, humility and goodness which didn’t inflict punishments; on the contrary he encouraged those who wished to imitate him. Pope Francis, quoting Benedict XVI says that the Church doesn’t grow through proselytism but by attraction. (E. G. 14.)

Article 9 of our Rule of Life is convinced that mercy is part of the Betharramite style of our mission: Her mission continues the action of the Heart of Christ, the Incarnate Word, offering Himself to the Father to accomplish his will of salvation: to reveal to the people of our time the compassion, mercy and the loving face of God the Father.

Gaspar Fernández Pérez, scj

Document Actions

NEF, Family news

Nef logoNEF, FAMILY NEWS

Nef is the official bulletin of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram.
Nef is edited by the General Council.

You can read the NEF by going to the appropriate section of the portal, which also contains the archive of recent years.

Below you find the last three issues ...