Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Father Benito Limsuan SVD – Divine Word Seminary of Tagaytay
Saturday 1st Week of Lent
During World War II, in the jungles of Burma, Japanese soldiers forced Allied prisoners of war to build railways. One day, after a tool check, a shovel seemed missing. The officer in charge, enraged, threatened to kill the entire group unless the missing tool was produced. After a tense silence, one prisoner stepped forward to take the blame. He was beaten to death. Later, in a second count, all the tools were found — the first count had been mistaken.
Months later, liberation came. The Allied forces overran the camp, and the emaciated prisoners faced their captors. Asked what they wanted to say to the humbled enemy, they cried with tears: “No more killings, no more revenge, no more wars!” They remembered the sacrifice of the one who had volunteered to die for them.
This story echoes the teaching of Jesus: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44–45).
The wisdom of Christ is radical: forgiveness instead of retaliation, love instead of hatred. St. Paul reinforces this in Romans 12:21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Nikita Khrushchev once said: “We Communists have many things in common with the teachings of Christ. My sole difference with Christ is that when someone hits me on the right cheek, I hit him on the left so hard that his head falls off.” His words highlight how difficult — even scandalous — Christ’s teaching is. Yet it is precisely this radical love that transforms hearts and societies.
Anger and revenge only perpetuate cycles of violence. A Chinese proverb wisely says: “One who lives in anger and desires revenge should dig two graves — one for the enemy, another for himself.” Forgiveness, on the other hand, liberates both the victim and the offender.
The prisoners’ cry — “No more killings, no more revenge, no more wars!” — is the cry of Christ Himself from the cross: “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). When we forgive, when we love our enemies, we show that God is truly personal and loving in our lives.
“Lord, grant me the grace to forgive as You forgive, to love as You love, and to live each day as Your child of peace.”
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