Gospel Exercises — Volume II · Exercise 2 of 12

Revenge

Before you begin: Please read the Introduction — How to Practice the Gospel Exercises

Reflection on Luke 9:51–56

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, show me what spirit I carry within me when someone hurts, rejects, or humiliates me. Cleanse my heart of the desire to return blow for blow, and teach me to live in Your spirit, which comes not to destroy but to save.

Amen.

Reflection

When a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus, James and John immediately proposed that fire should come down from heaven and consume everything. Their reaction is fierce, but also very human. When we are rejected, the desire to retaliate quickly rises within us. We want the other person to feel the consequences of their attitude and want it to become clear that we were right. Revenge is the craving to exact satisfaction ourselves—that is, to obtain redress for real or perceived harm, injustice, or injury. In revenge, we seek this by punishing or humiliating the other person, or causing them suffering.

Jesus, however, rebukes His disciples. He does not say that rejection is painless. Nor does He say that truth does not matter. He shows that the way we respond can directly contradict the spirit of the Gospel. The Son of Man came not to destroy, but to save. This is a fundamental criterion for us too.

This is precisely where the danger of revenge becomes clear. A person may be right about the injustice they have suffered and still respond in a spirit that is not Christ's.

The Moment Revenge Begins

Revenge often begins before we do anything outwardly. Someone insults, rejects, humiliates, or harms us, and a brief impulse arises within us:

“They cannot get away with this.” “They must feel the consequences of what they have done.” “I will show them.” “One day I will pay them back.”

Recognizing injustice is not itself revenge. Even anger at evil need not be revenge. The decisive moment comes when we begin to desire to exact satisfaction ourselves.

We may imagine a future conversation in which we humiliate the other person. We think about whom to tell about their conduct. We look for ways to make their life unpleasant, withhold help, or show them that they have no power over us.

It is important to notice this first inward movement. If we fail to recognize it, it can easily begin to pass itself off as justice.

Revenge Likes to Disguise Itself as Justice

Revenge is not always openly violent. It often hides in cold rejection, sarcasm, attempts to shame others, or the desire to put someone in their place.

For example, when reporting an injustice that has occurred, what motivates us also matters. Reporting an injustice to prevent further harm is one thing. Reporting it because we want to destroy that person is another.

Revenge begins when we take the task of exacting satisfaction into our own hands and find pleasure in imagining the other person paying for the wrong they have done.

Christ Opens Another Way

After being rejected, Jesus simply goes to another village. This is not weakness, but freedom. He does not have to prove His power to everyone. He does not save the world by immediately punishing every opponent, but by remaining faithful to the Father's love. He calls us into this freedom too, so that we respond not out of a wounded ego, but in a spirit that seeks to save. It is therefore important to focus on this response of Christ, so that our hearts may gradually be freed from the craving to exact satisfaction and learn to entrust justice to God.

Discernment

Let us recall situations in which someone rejected, belittled, overlooked, misunderstood, or hurt us. How did we respond inwardly? Did a desire arise within us for punishment, for the other person's humiliation, or for God to pay them back? Or did we begin to behave coldly and distantly, judging them in our hearts?

Let us also notice moments when we want to punish someone through silence, exclusion, mockery, or comments that express disgust. Let us notice, too, the scenes we replay in our minds of how the other person should suffer. In all these areas, we need conversion.

Resolution

If we carry a particular grievance, let us deliberately pray for the person concerned whenever it comes to mind during the coming week. Let us ask the Lord to protect them and guide them toward what is good. At the same time, let us surrender revenge to the Lord: not so that He might punish them in our place, but so that He need not punish them. Let us intercede for them without denying or excusing the evil that was done.

Prayer

Our Father…