Mt 12,14-21 – Saturday of the XV Week of Ordinary Time
The description that the Gospel of Matthew gives of Jesus today is beautiful, using the words of the prophet Isaiah: «He will not dispute or shout, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. He will not break an already cracked reed, he will not extinguish a dull flame, until he has made justice triumph; in his name the nations will hope.” This is Jesus’ style. He does not use violence, he does not impose himself by force, he does not try to prevail over others. Yet he does not give up on truth and justice.
The Gospel thus shows us that we can be strong without being violent, decisive without becoming aggressive, faithful to the truth without turning the truth into a weapon against someone. Jesus’ way of acting should become a school for each of us. Very often, in fact, we are convinced that to defend what is right it is necessary to raise our voices, attack and humiliate those who think differently. We think that the strength of an argument depends on how aggressively we make it. Jesus, however, shows us a completely different path. He does not break the bruised reed and does not quench the dull flame. Meaning what, faced with fragility, it does not add more fragility. In front of someone who is wounded, he does not inflict another wound. Instead, try to save what now seems lost and to preserve even that little light that still resists in a person’s heart.
A Christianity that becomes violent, even just through words, betrays the style of Christ at its roots. This also applies to that particular form of aggression that today manifests itself behind a keyboard, where it is easy to judge, insult and condemn without actually meeting the face of the other. Yes to the truth. Yes to justice. Yes to the courage to take a stand. But always in the way of Jesus. Because it is not enough to defend something that is right. You have to do it the right way. The true strength of the Christian is meekness. Not a passive or compliant meekness, but that extraordinary strength that knows how to fight evil without becoming similar to the evil it fights. This is how Jesus makes justice triumph. And it is only by learning his style that we can truly become his disciples.
