As I am still mourning over the death of my Jesuit mentor and friend, Fr. James V. Schall. I have started to re-read some of his old essays and books. One of my favorite essays, was the one that he wrote two years ago titled “Americans have Forgotten How to Forgive.” In the essay, Fr. Schall noted that in Arlington Cemetery, we find a monument to the Southern soldier. After the Civil War some representative Confederate soldiers would lie buried in Robert E. Lee’s old property beside the many more Yankee dead. Here, Fr. Schall pointed out that both sides “were wise enough to understand that all the issues of justice could not be resolved by men. They realized that reconciliation and forgiveness were the only proper way to preserve the now held-together union and gradually get along together after arms had decided the victor.” Furthermore, Fr. Schall cited a German-Jewish philosopher, Hannah Arendt, on how one does stop vengeance. “Those who actually fought knew that real issues of both justice and injustice were found on both sides. It is a form of Manichaeism to maintain that one side was all right and the other all wrong. Arendt wisely argued that the only thing that could stop vengeance was mutual forgiveness, itself a free and responsible act that must be recognized by both the forgivers and the forgiven.”
In the Gospel today, John uses the word “hate” as a reference to active hostility in the form of persecution because the disciples are the followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus predicts that his disciples will face bitter rejection, some of which will be manifested through hatred shown toward them. The disciples can expect to be hated because the world does not know Jesus or the one who sent him. Jesus also warns his disciples that they can be hated without cause in this world that is so full of hatred. As Psalm 35: 7 says, “Without cause they set their snare for me; without cause they dug a pit for me.”
Do you feel that you want to rid out the hatred around you? Are there ways that you can take on the spirit of forgiveness in your life? Would you say that you live out the spirit of forgiveness instead of hatred? Try to imagine yourself sitting next to Jesus listening to his teaching about the world that will hate you. Tell Jesus what arises in your heart when you hear that the world is full of hatred. Is there anything that you want to pray to God to help you to forgive? Ask for whatever you need to forgive others as a disciple of Christ.