March 28, 2019

How do I respond to evil?

In today’s Gospel we see Jesus confront evil and it causes great controversy. How often we see something similar play out in our own life: the temptation to avoid rocking the boat or ruffling feathers, even if it means enduring something that is wrong or unjust. “I do me, you do you” or “live and let live,” we might think. But “live and let live” just as easily becomes “live and let suffer” or even “live and let die.” Only 3 in 5 Americans believe the devil is real. Does that make it easier for us to turn away from forces of evil and causes of suffering?

Elie Wiesel, author and Holocaust survivor, insisted: “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Jesus could have avoided words and actions that would lead to discord, but he refused to turn a blind eye to the work of the devil, knowing that it produces shame and stigma, conflict and division. The devil works through power that separates and subjugates, whereas God’s power is to reconcile and build up mutuality, equality, and love.

Put everything into the light, St. Ignatius advises. Otherwise deception and darkness will prevail. How can I use my voice and my actions to shine a light where there is darkness or mend what is broken in and around me?

—Dr. Marcus Mescher is Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Xavier University in Cincinnati, and is a graduate of Marquette University High School, Marquette University, and Boston College.  

Prayer

Prayer for Generosity

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous; 
teach me to serve you as you deserve, 
to give and not to count the cost, 
to fight and not to heed the wounds, 
to toil and not to seek for rest, 
to labor and not to seek reward, 
except that of knowing that I do your will.
Amen.

—St. Ignatius of Loyola