INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 11th Monday in
Ordinary Time is, “I Hate You.”
Have we ever heard someone say those three words in our
lifetime?
Have we ever said them?
Has anyone ever said those three words at us?
CHILDREN AND
ADULTS
We might have heard a little kid screaming those words at
a parent. They want ice cream or candy or to stay up late and they are not
getting their way - and so they scream, “I hate you.”
And once a kid learns those words - especially the hate
word - they might then say it at another kid in the family or some kid in a
game.
It’s a different
sentence - when adults scream out those three words.
Teen agers - in the midst of a fight with parents - for
example when it comes to whom they are dating or hanging with - or when privileges
are taken away - those 3 words have more power than that of a tiny kid - but
when adults say those 3 words - then we’re in serious territory.
If they come home
- back home - and they hear “I love you!” - that’s a thunder storm moment - and
“I love you” after a horrible “I hate you”
experience - is so much more powerful than before.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
We’re moving along each day now in the Sermon on the
Mount - for our weekday Mass gospel text.
Today Jesus uses the word, “hate” when he says, “You have
heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”
The verb used for hate is miseo!
Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh - in their book, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic
Gospels - tell us that when the people of the Mediterranean world used the
words “love” and “hate” it was a bit different than the way we would use those
two words today.
We would think of these two words more in psychological
terms, especially in one to one terms. In Jesus’ world, we’d be thinking more in group terms -
and especially “attachment” - “group attachment” - terms. So if I love someone - I’m attached to this other person’s family -
and family is one’s big circles. If I
hate someone I want to be separate from another or from the group or family
they belong to.
So the elder brother of the Prodigal Son
- doesn’t want to go into the house - into the celebration for the returned son
and brother - into the whole family who is celebrating his return.
ONE TO ONE
ADULT HATRED OF ANOTHER
Jesus sees all this. When he heals someone - he tells them to go home to their family to celebrate
the recovery and the healing - of being part of the family once again.
So the stress in Jesus’ time is community, the group, attachment
to the group - more than just one to
one.
The stress for today, hopefully would have that - seeing hatred
in how Jesus saw hatred - how it destroys community. We need to learn how to
forgive one’s brother or sister from the heart - seeing family all together
again - as it was in the past.
But we have learned that hatred - hurts the hater -
besides hurting the person who hears, “I hate you.” We need to see how hatred boomerangs back to
the thrower - the screamer.
So in one-to-one hatred screams - we need to realize both
the other and ourselves - are in on the impact. Sometimes we forget how hatred or anger or what have you grips
and grabs us as well.
I noticed this quote last night. It’s from Jose Marti [1853-1895]
who said in his, Manifesto of
Montechristi [1895] “Only those who hate the Negro see hatred in the
Negro.”
It’s called projection and transference in psychology.
Once we realize these kinds of things we can grow.
Jonathan Swift [1667-1745] said, “We have just enough religion to make us
hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” [Cf: "Thoughts on Various
Subjects"; from Miscellanies [1711]
CONCLUSION
So that’s why we come to Mass - come to church, mosque, synagogue
and temple - we come for more religion. We come to move for more love and the
lessening of hatred.
