During the time of the prayer symposium in February, I was driving to San Francisco and I heard on the radio the audio of an [un-]wise Latina woman promoting herself and her book at the Commonwealth Club. (And now she is hearing arguments concerning same-sex marriage?) I was thinking about how she and her ilk were destroying the country and leading souls astray through their actions. Our Lord told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us; he did not say that we must pretend that they are not our enemies, or that what they do is not evil. (As for forgiveness, that can be a convoluted question.)
So what of anger and the desire for vengeance? While one may legitimately feel anger at the evil that is done, to be in a perpetual state of anger is not healthy for the soul. One must find a positive outlet for such emotion. If our responses to that evil are limited and we are unable to prevent that evil from being done, we can still exercise charity towards our enemies and pray for them, while striving to protect and defend those around us. We are recipients of God's mercy and should bear it towards others. Charity does not preclude constitutional or political reform, and true growth in charity and its manifestation towards one's neighbor cannot but have an impact on the political sphere, properly understood as the community in which we live.
Related:
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on 'My Beloved World'
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