We live in an era in which invective is endemic. Politically, much of western society has become divided to the point of extreme polarisation, in which one side views the other as positively evil. One politician running for the most senior office in her country infamously described the supporters of the opposition as “a basket of deplorables”. Judging by comments posted on Catholic social media it seems that this fetid atmosphere of vituperation that has taken possession of public discourse has also taken root within the Church.
It is, of course, to be expected that when the stakes are high passions will simmer and boil. Perhaps the stakes have never been higher. Issues which for Catholics are crucially important – the sanctity of human life, the divine institution and the meaning of Holy Matrimony between man and woman, the special sovereignty of the family, and the intrinsic value of each and every human being – are all under ferocious attack from various quarters. It can be tempting for us to demonise the opposition, especially when the tactics used to undermine the principles that we treasure are duplicitous and unscrupulous.
But however hard we battle to defend these principles we must resist the temptation to dehumanise our opponents in this war. In the Gospel Our Lord instructs us: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
A few years ago one of the Oratory fathers wandered into the halal quarter of a picturesque town in southern France and found himself being verbally abused for being a Catholic priest by a group of young zealots. His command of their language was just good enough to understand the gross nature of the insults, but not to formulate an appropriate response. Remembering Our Lord’s injunction in the Gospel to “bless those who curse you” he silently made the Sign of the Cross over his assailants. The result was that he found a butcher’s knife being brandished before his face. A priest he was travelling with pulled him away, and martyrdom was averted. The blessing was well intended if not so well received.
What we have to remember is that each and every human being is created in the image of God. This indelible divine image is universal throughout the whole human race. When God looks at any of us, He sees a potential for great beauty of soul and holiness. If He also finds sin within our hearts, then that is an obstacle to our growth which He, with our cooperation, desires to remove so that we might flourish. We must strive to see our fellow men with this same divine vision. Witnessing the concerted efforts of the earthly powers-that-be to contaminate the innocence of children in schools with pathological ideologies, we might feel inclined to identify the human agents promoting such evil with the diabolical forces which are ultimately their inspiration. Demonisation of any human being is however a grave sin against charity and a denial of the Divine Providence. While the image of God in a demon has been distorted beyond redemption for eternity, even a man who has given himself over to wicked depravity is capable with God’s grace (and the help of our prayers) of conversion to the life of grace which elevates the image of God in his soul to a supernatural likeness, at least while he still has breath in his lungs.
The injunction to love our enemies is certainly not a commandment to like them. Liking is based on feeling, and feelings are neither here nor there when it comes to sanctification. Feelings wax and wane, and our control over them is generally limited. Loving is an act of the will, and exercise of this virtue even has the power to affect how we feel towards one another. Monsignor Ronald Knox, preaching on the subject of “Forgiving and Loving” had this to say about the saints: “They really do love their fellow man as such; they feel the same thrill of pleasure when they see a man coming down the road which you and I feel when we see a friend coming down the road. Mankind is their kindred; the world is their parish. And, consequently, one who shows bitter enmity towards a saint, speaks evil of him, persecutes him, is to the saint simply a friend who is being tiresome; it’s a sort of tiff between lovers that is bound to blow over. I know the lives always tell us the saints loved their enemies as being instruments of their own mortification; and I dare say it’s true, but that’s not all the truth. They didn't love them for being instruments, they loved them for being men”.
So does the Gospel insist that we must never put up a fight? Is it a charter for pacifism? Certainly not. There are times when we must fight for what is true and just. It does, however, correct our perspective. We may not wish our enemy victory; but we must desire his salvation. And in the culture wars that rage around us we are not called to be pacifists, but we are obliged to be pacifiers.
Father Julian Large