Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Jeremiah 18:18-20 | Psalm 30(31):5-6,14-16 | Matthew 20:17-28
Listen to me, O Lord,
hear what my adversaries are saying.
Should evil be returned for good?
For they are digging a pit for me.
Remember how I stood in your presence
to plead on their behalf,
to turn your wrath away from them. (Jeremiah 18:19-20)
When we pray to God about our enemies, what do we say? Probably something along the lines of “take them away from me, Lord!” or even “smite them, Lord, that they may not trouble me again!”
Jeremiah too succumbed to this:
Then hand their sons over to famine,
abandon them to the edge of the sword.
May their wives become childless and widowed.
May their husbands die of plague,
their young men be cut down by the sword in battle.
Let cries re-echo from their houses as you bring raiders suddenly on them.
For they have dug a pit to catch me, they have laid snares to trap my feet. (Jeremiah 18:21-22)
But Jesus has a timely reminder for us:
You do not know what you are asking. (Matthew 20:22)
He bids us love our enemies, seeing them as our brothers and sisters who are temporarily separated from the eternal love of the Father.
In their shoes, facing the circumstances they do, might we not have done the same?
Over the past few days, I’ve heard a lot of condemnation, targeted at certain figures in our local diocese. I think some of it might be warranted, especially for those who may have tainted our community with financial scandal, in the pursuit of personal riches.
To be honest, it reminds me of the other apostles’ indignation with James and John in today’s Gospel, for their presumptive arrogance–somewhat justified, with a little self-indulgent crowing of “sinner! SINNER!”
But as I was writing the previous few paragraphs, and wondering what I would say next, I received a fortuitous WhatsApp request to participate in a local university survey–about my attitudes towards living and socializing with ex-convicts. It’s as if I’ve been sent a message about my own prejudices and judgmental tendencies.
I’ll be taking the survey after I finish this blog entry, but one mantra is already running around in my head:
My enemies are human too.
There, but for the grace of God, go I.
Lord, help me to judge less, and love more. Amen.