***
“Where have all the men gone?” a young Michael Corleone asks his bodyguard as they stroll through a quaint town in Sicily.
His bodyguard turns and says, “Sono tutti morti per le vendette.”
“They’re all dead from vendettas.”
***
The Godfather is one of the most popular films in history. People, it seems, have a dark, timeless curiosity with the mafia – how it works, who wins, who loses.
And who’s next.
There’s something strangely satisfying about watching your enemy get what he deserves.
You double-cross Michael Corleone, you’re dead.
***
In our first reading, the Lord has delivered Saul, the man who becomes the Apostle Paul, into the hands of Ananias.
If Ananias was not a devoutly Christian man, then I’m sure he’d be quick to kill Saul for all the evil he’s done, just like Michael Corleone would satisfy a vendetta.
Saul has persecuted, imprisoned, and killed many Christians. But the Lord invites Ananias to forgive him, to lay his hands over Saul’s eyes, to heal him, and set him free.
***
Anyone can imagine how hard that must’ve been – forgiving someone who’s hated your faith and hurt you deeply.
But the Lord invites Ananias to deny his lower self and make the effort to be reconciled with his brother, instead.
As Christians, we seek reconciliation, not revenge.
Is there anyone, then, that the Lord is inviting me to forgive? Or maybe I need to seek forgiveness myself.
***
While movies like The Godfather entertain our lower selves, the Lord invites us to a higher calling, to love one another the way he has loved us.