Friday of
the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
February 7, 2014 8:30am
Today’s gospel is a pretty
hair-raising story.
The vengeance of Herodias is simply
out of control.
I dislike thinking that vengeance
can ever reside in us or affect our behavior.
But I am afraid that sometimes it
can – in much milder and less dramatic ways than with Herodias, but it can still
be there.
Sometimes it can be as small as
keeping score – I emptied the dishwasher six times and he or she only did it
once this week.
We’ll get back either verbally or
maybe passive-aggressively.
Sometimes we hold grudges for a
hurtful word or for a thoughtless forgetting of something, like picking up chips
and salsa at the store.
So we look for a chance to get
back.
The offense stays inside us, festers
and builds up.
And the more it does, the riskier
it is that our getting back will be out of proportion to what was done.
Just look at what Herodias has
done to John the Baptist.
So it is important, good
psychology and good gospel, to deal with hurts and not let them deal with us
and cause us to be vengeful.
Dealing with them means several
things, maybe several steps:
1.
Pausing, being silent for a bit, and not reacting on
the spur of the moment.
2.
Getting in touch with what we are really feeling – feeling
disrespected, feeling put down, feeling inconsequential or uncared for, whatever
it is – doing this before we act or speak.
3.
Getting in touch with God within us, first with the
light of God to enlighten us about our feelings and what has happened.
4.
Getting in touch with the love of God and allowing that
love to work within us and refine what we are thinking of saying or doing.
5.
And then, and only then, speaking and acting.
This is dealing with hurts and
offenses.
It is not being vengeful.
Rather, it is dealing with them
in a way that is open to reconciliation and resolution in a positive,
constructive way.
I suggest that it is a good
process, good psychology and good gospel, and a good way not to do anything
near what Herodias does in today’s story.
