St. John Gualbert/Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Today we celebrate the feast of St. John Gualbert, as well as commemorating the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. St. John Gualbert was born into a noble family in Italy in the late tenth century. His upbringing was conventional for his time and there was little indication that he would later manifest any great sanctity. He seemed too absorbed by contemporary power politics. In one dispute his brother was murdered, and he sought to avenge his brother’s murder by himself killing the perpetrator. One day he met with his brother’s murderer at a point where the man could not escape or defend himself. At this point, the man who he was about to kill pleaded for mercy and forgiveness, mindful of the fact that it was Good Friday. Moved by his plea for mercy, John Gualbert forgave him and decided not to go ahead with killing him.
The incident changed the course of his life. He renounced his earlier worldliness and resolved to become a monk. Though he joined the Benedictine order, he desired a much more ascetic life than the order provided. He was impressed by the Camaldolese that has recently been founded by St. Romuald, which had sought to combine the asceticism of the life of the hermit with the communal life of the Benedictine. He founded his own order at Vallambrosa on not dissimilar lines, combining the severity of the life of the hermit with the communal life of the monk. In fact, it was not a separate religious order, but a stricter form of the Benedictine life. The severity of the rule of life meant that it never had many recruits. However, St. John Gualbert had much influence in the reforming movement of the Church at his time, such as the movement to abolish abuses such as simony (the buying of church offices), which was common at the time. Interestingly, he was never ordained (not even to minor orders), a reminder that the vocation of the monk and the cleric were never intended to be synonymous (indeed originally monasticism was mainly a lay movement and St. Benedict himself was never ordained).
Appropriately, the Gospel for today is from the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus calls his followers to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them and despitefully use them. This is perhaps the most difficult of all the Gospel precepts to follow. Human beings are tribal creatures and find it easy to love those in their own tribe and social grouping, but very difficult to love those outside it. Indeed, they may be actively taught to despise them, because they have in the past mistreated either them or other members of their own tribe and social grouping.
St. John Gualbert had little reason to love a man who murdered his own brother. It is perhaps understandable that he should seek to avenge the deed by himself killing the perpetrator. But, just at the point when he was about to avenge the deed, he was moved by the murderer’s plea for mercy and was able to forgive him. Forgiveness was not a natural human reaction, but the result of divine charity at work in him, for divine charity is the very bond of peace and of all virtues. It was the fact that it was Good Friday, and when the man appealed for mercy, John Gualbert remembered the Gospel precept to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us and despitefully use us. For Jesus did not simply teach us to love our enemies, he actually lived it and on that first Good Friday took evil upon himself and somehow subsumed it into good. On that first Good Friday he no longer taught, but acted and suffered. He was condemned unjustly to die, and yet he bore the other cheek and went the second mile. He fulfilled the role of the Suffering Servant, despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. The message of the Cross is that hatred cannot conquer hatred, only love can do that.
Since God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, a world that had become estranged and in enmity with him because of human sin, so we too must become ourselves instruments of his reconciling love. As we have been forgiven, so we too must forgive. When St. Peter asked Jesus how often must I forgive my brother when he sins against me, up to seven times, Jesus replied, not until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Since the forgiveness of God is infinite, for it was extended even to the human race who had become God’s enemies due to human sin, so we too should forgive our enemies.
This is something that is much easier said than done. It is very easy to talk about forgiveness, much more difficult to practice it. There is an old saying “forgive and forget”, but this is all too glib an attitude. How could St. John Gualbert forget a man who murdered his brother? How can we forget those we believe have wronged us? Forgiveness is much more costly and difficult than that. We cannot do it by our own strength, but only when we allow the divine charity that was at work in the world in Christ to also work in us, to heal us and to transform us. The Christian can have no other basis for action than gratitude for forgiveness experienced. Only as we ourselves recognise that we have been forgiven are we also able to forgive.
But, we might say, at least in the case of St. John Gualbert, the murderer of his brother pleaded for mercy, recognised his wrongdoing and so forgiveness and reconciliation were possible, in our own case, those who have wronged us have remained unrepentant and have resisted any attempt to bring about reconciliation. It is certainly true that for forgiveness to work properly, it has to be a two way process. However, if we cannot be reconciled to someone or some group and have to shake the dust off our feet and move on, at least we should strive not to regard that person or group with hatred and bitterness, mindful of him who prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.
There was much hatred and violence in the world then, and there is much now. Yet the Gospel message remains the same, do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good. Let us pray for God’s grace to work in us, that we may be able to follow the example of St. John Gualbert and overcome evil with good in our own time and place.
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
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