There is a Spanish proverb that says: "To return evil for good is devilish. To return good for good is human. To return good for evil is godlike."

Retaliation is a behavior response that may be natural for our fallen nature, by is not the response of a son or daughter of God. In today's Gospel, Jesus holds his followers to a higher standard of behavior. It is definitely not an eye-for-an-eye human response, but love for evil. It is the response Jesus himself modeled for us in his own life. When he was maligned, he did not do the same. When he was beaten, he did not fight back. He defended himself by choosing to rise about the effects of sin. He did so to teach us another way of life, one that leads to the fullness of life. We can bomb each other and we will have a destroyed world. We can return good for evil. It may not change the other, but it prevents the other from changing me to be like the other.