Not Paying Back in the Same Coin
I will try to hold everyone in great esteem. And if they do evil to me, I will suppose that they believe they are doing me a great good, and … I will try to commend them to God. (OOCC, X, p. 36; STA, 57)
St. Vincent Pallotti held every human person with great respect. For he believed that the human person is the image of God. As the image of God, the human person is capable of representing the nature, the being, and the perfection of God. Thus, every human person has a dignity that God gives him, by creating him in His image. Therefore, St. Vincent wished to do nothing that would, in any way, bring disrespect to the human person. Hence, even when someone ill-treated him or did him an evil, he always resisted the temptation to retaliate the evil action done to him. For, in retaliating to the other who has hurt him, he offends God, in whose image the other is created. Thus, for St. Vincent Pallotti, ‘paying back in the same coin’ is not a response of a true Christian to an evildoer. Instead he attempted to see the hand of God in the evil act done to him, believing that God would bring some great good through the evil he has experienced. This mind-set of seeing the hand of God in the evil done to him by the other helped St. Vincent to understand the person who has done him harm. It gave him an enlightened mind that would not pass a judgement on the act of the evildoer. It assisted him to treat kindly the one who has hurt him. Finally, it helped him to commend the evildoer to God’s protection. All these attitudes helped St. Vincent to treat his neighbor with respect.
Am I able to respect and treat kindly the person who has done me harm? Do I retaliate the one who has treated me badly? Do I have the mind-set to see the hand of God in the evils I experience in my daily life through the unjust actions of others? Do I commend the evildoer to God’s protection by praying for him?
Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In this way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust too. (Mt. 5: 44-45)