Jesus said, "But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic."

Thirteen hundred years after their last adventure in Narnia that was recorded in the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe," the Pevensie children in real life have actually only grown one year older. Another crisis has come. Narnia is now overrun by the Telmarines who have driven the Narnians into seclusion. Prince Caspian is the rightful heir to the throne, but his uncle Miraz wants to take the throne from him, and eventually place his own son as king. Caspian secretly watches as Miraz' soldiers attempt to kill him in his sleep. He can only run away after Doctor Cornelius, his mentor, has given him Queen Lucy's horn from the distant past. Caspian watches the evil perpetrated against him, realizing that he could very easily have been killed, and runs into the place where the Narnians are hiding. As he is attacked by them because he is a Telmarine, in a moment of desperation, he blows the horn. A victim of evil, Caspian knew of only one hope. 

We know that there is evil in our world. It is reported in the media, and it is present in our own circles. But it becomes a different kind of evil when it is perpetrated against us or our families. Then it becomes something personal--we have been personally hurt unjustly, and it is someone else's fault. The question for the Christian is what do we do in that case?

It is a question for the Christian because of what Jesus our leader has given as a directive. Jesus knew that our anger would drive us to do things that would eventually hurt us, and so during the Sermon on the Plain in Luke's Gospel, he not only tells us to love each other, but he even says in slight exaggeration that we should allow the evil to take advantage of us. His point is that love must rule our lives at all times, even if we have a right to be angry.

In the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," Caspian had a right to be angry. He was attacked personally by his uncle, but later when he had a chance to retaliate against him, much to Caspian's credit, he responded as a Christian would, even though he had not heard of Jesus' laws.

When evil becomes close and personal, our anger tends to take over. We tend to lose control, and for the moment lose any positive sensitivity toward people, especially those who have brought about the evil into our lives, and we feel as though we have the right to retaliate. Perhaps the most difficult directive our Lord gave us while he was with us on earth is this one concerning retaliation. It seems to go against our very nature. He says that any follower of his will respond to evil only with prayer for the person who has brought about the evil, and even further, the Christian will try to bring about good for that person as well.

Christians have not followed Jesus' directive very well, and because of it, our lives here on earth are not nearly as good as they could have been.

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son gave us an incredibly difficult doctrine to follow when he told us not to retaliate against others, and to love them instead. Give us the grace to accept his doctrine. Be with us, we pray. 

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America