There was once a truck driver who pulled his truck in at a roadside diner and he went in to have a bite to eat. And then along came three bikers. Most bikers are very gentle types but these three were not. They were very aggressive and fierce and they decided they were going to give the trucker a bad time. So one of them poured salt and pepper on his head; another one threw his pie on the floor; another one knocked over his coffee and spilled it in his lap. The truck driver maintains his dignity. He said nothing. He just got up very quietly, paid his bill, and went out into the night. But after awhile one of the bikers went up to the barman and he said, “That guy didn’t have much fight in him, did he?” And the barman looked out the window and he said, “No, and he’s not much of driver either. He just drove his truck over three bikes.” (Laughter) I think we all get a lot of satisfaction out a story like that when someone gets their comeuppance. I know I do. I’m Irish and we’re pretty good at that kind of thing. (Laughter)

But I think St. James in today’s second reading, which I’m going to talk about just as Brian did last week; I think St. James would say to us, uh, uh, that’s not the way. Early Christianity they called their community the Way. So, James would say that’s not the Way, that’s the way it was. And so in the reading he said, “Be careful not to give in to your lower passions, your temper, your desire for vengeance, your hatred.” He said, “Instead try and reach for the higher wisdom which is purer, kindly, considerate and full of mercy.”

The letter of St. James is wonderful by the way. Sometime take down your Bible and read through it. It’s only five chapters. You get through it in no time. It’s very down to earth, it’s very basic; you don’t need a dictionary to understand the words like you might at the Letters of St. Paul. He also writes, so I’m translating one of the lines here according to the Bible of Jerusalem, talking about wars. “Where do all these wars come from? You want something and you lack it so you kill.” Wow! You want something and you lack it so you kill.

How many of the wars that have taken place in the 2000 years since those words were written? Fulfilled everything that he said. When I look back on our Christian history one of the regrets I have is that we spend so much energy trying to figure out what is a just war. And there are shelves of books and theological books on the just war theory. What are the conditions, what has to be fulfilled, subsection I, subsection II, subsection III, etc., etc. When I was doing my Theology 1969 to 1972, the Northern Ireland conflict had just broken out, it was the last 38 years. I don’t remember us being taught anything about how to make peace, or how to maintain peace. It was all this stuff about what constitutes a just war. I think if we had been told a little bit about the teachings of Jesus and how to make peace and keep peace, maybe the troubles wouldn’t have lasted 38 years.

St. Augustine himself, who is generally credited with having formulated the theory of the just war, we forget that Augustine said, “It is a higher glory still to prevent war with a word, than to kill with the sword and to maintain peace by dent of peace, not by dent of war.” But, of course, the words of St. James also refer to the every day events of our lives because it does happen that people offend us. They pour salt and pepper on our heads so to speak. And so we are resentful. Maybe we have feelings of hatred and we want vengeance. What are we to do? How are we to follow the Way, instead of the way of the world?

Here are three suggestions. First and foremost and this comes straight from Jesus, of course, pray for our enemies. Pray for them. If any of you belong to 12 Step groups you know that the biggest obstacle to overcoming addictions is probably resentment, and that if you want to really cope and get freedom from addiction one thing you need to do is to get rid of these resentments. How to do that? Well, one of the ways, of course, is to pray for the person or persons. And if you find it too hard to pray for the person here's what I do. I close my eyes; I imagine them surrounded by the light of Christ. Just imagine them surrounded by the light of Christ. It is amazing what that can do. In his book "Darkness in the Marketplace" the Jesuit Fr. Thomas Green has this little prayer which I use and which I like. "Lord, let me not be more angry with that person's behavior than you are; and if you are not angry then let me not be angry either." And a friend of mine wrote to me - she was talking about how she resents some people and yet she knows that God loves them, and she wrote: "To think Jesus loves them as much as he loves me. How could that be if they are so awful and I am so cool?" (Laughter) So pray for the person.

Secondly, and again this is straight from Jesus, only Jesus said it umpteen times in all kinds of ways and he also modeled it by his own example: "Do not return evil for evil, but overcome evil with good." It's natural for us to return evil for evil like the trucker did. It's not true. We have to reach the supernatural, the Way, rather than the way of the world. Here is a very down to earth example from my life where I'm not the hero; I'm not the good guy. There is a St. Declan but it's not me. (Laughter) This is a few years ago. I was driving my car through the town of Los Aptos and there was a lot of traffic. I stopped at a traffic light and a pick-up truck bangs into the back of my car. I was furious! I jumped out of the car, I went back and there were two young guys and I shouted at them something like, "For God sake will you learn to drive." And the driver turned to his companion, pointed at me and in a very sad voice he said "Dude's having a bad day." (Laughter) And I turned away because I didn't want him to see me smiling. There was no exchange of insurance companies or licenses. We didn't call the police. I just got into my car and I drove away and I was laughing.

Now I don't know whether they were Christians or not, but their behavior was because they didn't return like for like. They didn't talk in the way I talked. But by speaking the way they did they completely took the heat out of the situation. Instead of returning evil for evil overcome evil with good.

Current example: When we are resentful against somebody we feel I wish that person could change. I wish God could change that person. Turn that around. Maybe you should be pointing in this direction. How about asking God to change me? How about asking God to change my heart? Maybe that's where the problem is. Some years ago there was a woman called Marietta Jaeger and a terrible, terrible, terrible tragedy happened in her life. Her seven year old daughter was kidnapped and murdered. She was quite naturally as you and I would be full of rage and venom and hatred and anger and a desire for vengeance.

A year passed and she felt that these feelings were eating her up inside. That now she has suffered two great tragedies, one the loss of her daughter, the other the loss of her soul and her serenity. And so she made this as a prayer, which I think is fantastic. She writes: "One day I gave God permission to change my heart. One day I gave God permission to change my heart." And of course God did because God will always answer a prayer like that. She forgave the killer who later went to jail and actually committed suicide. And, she has become a leading advocate against the death penalty. She writes: "Loved ones wrenched from our lives by violent crime deserve more beautiful, noble and honorable memorials than premeditated state sanctioned killings. By becoming that which we deplore, people who kill people, we insult the sacred memory of all our precious victims. Ask God to change my heart. God always will."

So you know the words of St. James were written 2000 years ago, but they are still applicable to every age. What a different world it would have been if Christians had taken his words to heart. It would have been a world in which Christians were more eager to make peace and keep peace rather than to make excuses for war. A world in which Christians did not give in to their lowest passions; but earnestly sought the wisdom that comes from above. A world in which Christians tried not to return evil for evil; but to overcome evil with good.

rjs