Earlier this night we had our first CSS gathering for this semester. The topic on forgiveness, and was primarily centred on a Saint called Maria Goretti.
A quick rundown on the Saint: Maria Goretti was born 1890 in Italy. She was killed – stabbed 14 times – by a man named Alessandro Serenelli for refusing to submit to his sexual desires, on grounds that to do so would be to sin. During her last hours in the hospital, she expressed forgiveness to her murderer before her death. Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison, whereby he remained unrepentant until one day he had a dream, in which Maria gave him lilies which burned in his hands. After his release, Alessandro visited Maria’s mother to ask for forgiveness, which the latter did.
Halfway during the sharing session a member suddenly popped out this question: he asked for the small group’s opinion (we were divided into smaller groups for sharing) on the word ‘justice’ and ‘forgiveness’; and whether the two are the same. Some concluded the two were different, and he agreed to that definition as well.
He then put forth another question: is it possible to forgive someone, at the same time wanting to see justice done to him/her? He gave the scenario: suppose a person kills someone; is it justice that the murderer should pay for the consequences with his life by being hanged to death? This issue is very real in Malaysia, where capital punishment is permitted under the national law.
One member – also a leader in the CSS – approved of this course of action, asserting that these people need to be taught a lesson, and that the only way to impede such actions was through such justice systems. Previously he shared how his uncle was murdered, leaving behind a family and child who barely started schooling. Both he and his family were affected by this, his grandmother most of all.
While I disagree with him in this matter, this gives me no right to judge him. I have not experienced anyone close to me go in a tragic manner, thus I do not truly know how it feels like. It is very difficult to conclude how you will react if you had never been in that situation. Sure, us Christians would like to imagine ourselves being as Jesus was to those who crucified him, yet it is easier said than done, especially with all the emotions running turbulent.
The first member that brought forth the question (let us call him A) acknowledged the leader’s (let us call him B) response, saying he knows fully where B is coming from and, having never experienced this pain before, gave him no right to pass judgment on B’s account.
A then shared his opinion: sometimes it is very hard to have both justice and forgiveness on the same plate, especially if you are a victim of that event. Nevertheless, say the murderer has been sentenced to death, would you then be truly appeased? Will it finally bring you contentment? To him, the authority to take a life belongs only to God. You can have a person sentenced to lifelong imprisonment; however, passing a death sentence is as though you are playing God. To have a person sentenced to death is not truly justice in his point of view.
For me, forgiveness and justice is not different in the sense they function independently from the other. While the world may define them as two opposite poles, that is just not how it works. Rather, I say they are distinct yet complement each other.
Back in the Old Testament, the justice system was such that an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Exodus 21:24). Yet if we were to look deeper into this issue, we realise that God instituted this in order to prevent excessive vengeance and over-retaliation from spreading rampant among the people of Israel. Take for instance, Genesis 34:25-29, before the law was created. For the wrongdoing of one man, instead of dealing appropriately with the person (or even the family) responsible for the action, the entire city fell under the retribution of Simeon and Levi. The eye became more than a life here; it encompassed everything related to the individual.
That was not how God had planned it in the beginning however. In Genesis 4, when Cain murdered his brother Abel, God did not put into practice the “eye for an eye.” He allowed Cain to walk free with His life, and continued to watch over him even after he was driven out of the land. Also note that there is no mention of Cain showing any remorse for his actions – all the more reason had God wanted to strike him down.
Consider as well the story of Jonah. Had God meant the law to be firmly in place, He would have long ago razed Nineveh instead of sending Jonah with the proclamation that would cause the city to repent. Yet it is written on numerous occasions, the Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love (Exodus 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 103:8)
Justice and forgiveness showed its final and truest form in the life and death of Jesus. For justice in our Lord’s eyes is to forgive, as He had done for us in word (Luke 23:34) and action (1 Peter 2:24). What He did for us on the Cross for our sins; we in turn should strive to follow in His footsteps. If He had justified us with His blood, is it still justice to demand the blood of others?
I admit it is not the easiest thing to do: forgiving the one who caused your sorrow, especially if it wreaked a major impact on your life. One CSS member speculated the reason Maria Goretti could so easily forgive Alessandro Serenelli was that she was soon going pass from the world, and intended to set things right before meeting our Lord; she had nothing more to lose, and no future to look forward to. Her mother, on the other hand, had years to recuperate; her daughter already having forgiven her aggressor, it would have been an insult to her memory had she not forgiven him in turn. Had I been in a similar situation, I cannot tell what I would have done, simply because I had never experienced such intense pain, even if do I fancy envisioning myself to be able to forgive. The only effective approach I can think of is to pray: cry, pour out all your emotions to Him together with those whom you are close to.
Let us also reflect on Matthew 18:23-35, that if such a time happens, we would be strengthened to live the Words spoken by our Redeemer:
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
RFG always.
