Not mentioning our enemies by name
03/14/2022
Lk 6:36-38 Jesus said to his
disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you
will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and
you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure,
packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Pope Francis, like all
respectable religious leaders, continued to condemn the invasion in Ukraine
during his Sunday blessing yesterday. I read an article in “The Guardian”,
though, that made this curious observation. It said: “The pope has not used the
word ‘Russia’ in his condemnation of the war since Vladimir Putin ordered the
invasion on February 24.” The article continued: “However, his choice of words,
such as ‘armed aggression,’ and ‘no valid strategic reason,’ appeared to be
aimed at contesting Moscow’s justifications for the invasion.” In other words,
in a small but very noticeable way, the pope was practicing Jesus’ teaching to
hate the sin but love the sinner by not mentioning names.
That genuine gesture of love by
the pope reminded me of Archbishop Sartain’s gentle correction when I wrote my
first book of homilies. He wrote the “Foreword” to the book, but first he read
the whole book. He made a friendly suggestion in one homily where I mentioned a
bishop in Germany who had a reputation for luxurious living. In my homily I had
mentioned the bishop by name, but Archbishop Sartain recommended I might
consider omitting using him as an example because I really did not know the
circumstances of the bishop’s life and ministry.
He was right. I had hated the
sin, but I had failed to love the sinner. In other words, when we mention
someone by name while criticizing them, we equate the sin with the sinner, and
we condemn both. It might seem like a small thing to do not, to mention
someone's name, but it is really a very hard thing to do: to hate the sin but
love the sinner, especially today while we watch the war in Ukraine.
In the gospel today, Jesus urges
his disciples to exercise not only love but mercy. He teaches in Luke’s “Sermon
on the Plain” (his counterpart to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount), Jesus saying:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” I think Pope Francis and
Archbishop Sartain were putting that teaching into practice by refraining from
referring to people by name. But Jesus goes a step further in the last line of
the gospel, where he adds: “For the measure with which you measure will in
return out measured back to you.”
In other words, how would you
like people to speak about your name, especially in public? We all naturally
want everyone to use our name with respect and honor. Don’t drag my good name
through the mud. And if they are going to criticize something we did wrong,
they should understand and sympathize with all the extenuating circumstances
that made us do it. Put simply, when someone utters our name, we hope they will
love the sinner even while they hate the sin. Sometimes the best way to strike
that delicate balance is not to mention someone by name, and focus only on
their actions, which is what the pope did.
I am convinced that a person’s
name touches somehow the mysterious depths of a person, and they are depths we
will never fully understand. Thus we read in Jer. 17:9 (one of my favorite
passages): “More torturous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who
can understand it?” The Jews acknowledged the hidden depths of God’s plans and
purposes, the desires of his heart, when they refused to pronounce is divine
name, “Yahweh.” It was the four-letter word, YHWH, the tetragrammaton. Instead,
they represented it in writing with simple the four letters YHWH, and in
speaking they substituted the word “Adonai” which means “Lord.” That is, do not
pronounce the name of God because you really do not understand God.
Here is a rather mundane example
from the popular novels called “Harry Potter.” Do you remember the person whose
name was so powerful and awe-inspiring that no one ever uttered it? Rather,
they whispered fearfully, “You Know Who,” or they said with dread: “He Who Must
Not Be Named.” Even with a villain as wicked and cruel as Voldemort, his name
was shown respect and deference. Even with him maybe J. K. Rowling was
suggesting, like Pope Francis and Archbishop Sartain, we should show mercy, and
love the sinner and hate the sin.
We love it when people remember
our name. We pray that they will respect our name, even when we do sinful
things. And we pray they will love us (the sinner) while they hate our sins.
And we should extend the same courtesy to others. Why? “For the measure with
which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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