Seek peace and avoid taking revenge

In today's Gospel from Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus urges us to avoid taking revenge. I remember once when on a visit to Papua New Guinea I went with my friend Paul on his rounds of the villages in his work as a patrol officer. He contracted men from his village to carry his equipment on the 10-day trip but when they reached the outskirts of the next village, they dropped their loads and raced home. They were afraid that revenge would be taken on them for long past but never forgotten hostilities. You might think that that is an extreme example but we probably all know of family members or former friends who haven't spoken to each other for years because of a previous falling out. In Exodus 21:24 ''An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'' is laid down to avoid more violent reactions, but Jesus turns that on it's head and urges us to face anger with gentleness, violence with peace. Many countries have just had meetings to negotiate for peace between Russia and Ukraine, as well as between Israel and Gaza. It is as if the world is saying ''Enough, we must have peace.'' Let us pray for the success of these negotiations as we say with St Francis, ''Lord, make me an instument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, and where there is darkness, light.''