Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin

Lectionary: 493

Remind them to be under the control of magistrates and authorities,
to be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise.
They are to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate,
exercising all graciousness toward everyone.

 T oday's first reading presents a nice contrast between believers and unbelievers, and helpful suggestions for Christians and Catholics under the present polarized regime. If we were sent to make a difference, we were not sent to make trouble. We don't need it; don't enjoy it; and find many good reasons to be at peace with everyone. 

Many high schools and colleges are teaching peacemaking skills to their students, as are many companies. Therapy groups and voluntary self-help groups like Twelve Step programs also offer opportunities to meet and get to know people of different ethnicities, faiths, and languages. We share more likenesses than differences, and do well to learn from those opportunities. 

Meeting others we should begin with the assumption that they're coming from a very different place. If, in the first moment of our acquaintance, we find many similarities and that we seem to be from the same tribe, we should only pause and wait a while. Quite different life experiences will soon be discovered. 

If identical twins lying side by side in a crib can display quite different reactions to the same stimuli, we should not suppose that any two strangers share very much in common. (A quick Google survey says, "Identical twins have exactly the same DNA, but they are not exactly alike. Each twin has his or her own personality, talents, likes, and dislikes. There are even diseases that appear in one twin but not the other, including arthritis, diabetes, autism, schizophrenia, cancer, and many others.")

Catholics begin each day in the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although we insist there is only one God, and that the three persons of the Trinity are consubstantial, sharing one will in complete obedience to one another, we also insist that the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father; and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but is their love for one another. Their otherness is like their divinity, infinite.

In other words, there is a confounding otherness in God which strongly resembles the otherness of every two human beings on earth. No one can match my beliefs or experience. I am sui generis, and no resemblance to another can resolve our differences or reunite me to them unless I am willing to recognize and honor the difference, and engage in communion. 

Young soldiers in basic training may be stripped of their clothing and shorn of their hair and virtually identical in appearance. They may be trained and treated exactly the same, but their differences have only been set aside for a while. They will reappear and, hopefully, be honored as their superiors discover and utilize their abilities and talents. 

Catholics, emerging from our daily encounter with our Trinitarian God, can represent the Lord's compassion even as we recognize and honor the differences we encounter among our neighbors, family, and friends. We may be strange but we are not strangers in this world. As we listen and honor differences with our neighbors, we can let our availability become apparent. Knowing the Lord as we do, we're not surprised by otherness. 

Nor, for that matter, are we surprised by anyone's sin; we've discovered plenty of it within our own hearts. We can hardly pretend to be Shocked, Shocked! by wickedness. As we come to terms with this post-election, transitional period we expect to find differences and set out once again on the path of reconciliation and peace.