As Jesus talks about love and hate today, I thought about a famous quote by the writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of lie is not death, it’s indifference.”
What hits home about this quote is that it seems like there is a lot of indifference in the world today, doesn’t there? But when we look at how Jesus and his followers were treated, it probably came out of hate, not indifference, The way Christ was put to death or a cross and in the way so many members of the early Church were persecuted or martyred, it seems to me to be the product of hatred.
We have heard a lot about St Paul in our readings from the Acts of the Apostles during the Easter season. It also seems that Paul went from hatred to love in his conversion to the Way of Jesus. Paul seemed to be passionated in whatever he did, whether it came out of hatred or love. But, if we look again at the quote from Elie Wiesel, perhaps indifference, the absence of love, is indeed worse than hate. If someone just does not care at all and remains uncaring, if he remains apathetic and uncaring to the plight of his fellow human beings, then there is no emotion or no connection at all, right? That person remains unplugged. It would seem more difficult to generate love from an attitude of indifference than it would be through negative feelings. Being passionate about something is so important in life. Without being passionate, where would our faith be? Perhaps Jesus was hated because in the way he challenged people and in the way he put forth the truth, he threatened the way they lived their lives and viewed the world.
In light of today’s Gospel message, perhaps we should pray to God for the grace to look closely at our own attitudes and the way we live out of lives of faith. May God fill our hearts with love. And may we pass the love on to others.
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