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| Dorothy? |
(Thirteenth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on June 28,
2020 at Watch Hill Chapel, Watch Hill, R.I.
Read 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Psalm 89:2-19; Romans 6:3-11; Matthew 10:37-42.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Thirteenth Sunday 2020]
In a book I was reading recently, I came across the
following little story:
During the second month of nursing school, a professor gave the students a quiz. One of them was a conscientious student who had breezed through the questions, until she read the last one, “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely, this was some kind of joke. Everyone knew that the cleaning woman was tall, dark-haired, and in her 50s, but they did not know her name. The student handed in her paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward the grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.” The conscientious student later commented, “I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.”
Respect.
Courtesy. Hospitality. The professor in that story understood and
believed in all of those things. So, of
course, did Jesus, who spoke to us in today’s gospel about the importance of
showing hospitality and respect toward prophets, the righteous and all those
who call themselves his disciples. He
says that those who do so will be rewarded for their efforts (if not here on
this earth, then most certainly in eternity).
But Jesus, as we know, didn’t limit charity to believers only. In the mind of our Savior, every human person is to be loved and
respected: “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to
me.”
Even in the Old Testament we see the importance of
respect, courtesy and hospitality. We
see it in stories like the one we heard in today’s first reading from 2 Kings
4: this story of Elisha the prophet and the childless Shunammite woman, who
showed Elisha hospitality by welcoming him into her home whenever he happened
to be traveling in the area. God
rewarded her for her efforts by blessing her with a son. The promise Elisha made to her at the end of
this story was, indeed, fulfilled.
Which brings us, finally, to our modern world and
to our current cultural situation here in the United States of America. If you look up the words respect, courtesy and hospitality in a modern dictionary of
the English language you will certainly find them there. And they will be properly defined. (At least in most dictionaries they will be!)
The problem is that very few people seem to believe
in these things nowadays. The sad
reality is that to a growing number of men and women in this country right now respect, courtesy and hospitality
have become words on a piece of paper—and nothing more. And isn’t this precisely what we’ve been
seeing on our city streets in recent weeks?
· A policeman needlessly stomping on another human
being’s throat
·
People rioting in the streets and attacking anyone
who disagrees with them
·
People destroying the property and the businesses of
law abiding citizens
·
People looting many of those businesses (some of
which, incidentally, are owned by African Americans—the very men and women these
looters claim to support!)
All this, my brothers and sisters, is not only
disrespect and a lack of courtesy and hospitality—it’s insanity!
And the scary thing is, this insanity is fast
becoming mainstream. This kind of disrespect and craziness is beginning to
manifest itself more and more frequently in our schools, at athletic events, in
social gatherings, in workplaces—and in families.
Which means we need to address it PRONTO—before it
destroys us as a nation.
“But what can I do, Fr. Ray? I’m just one person.”
Actually, each of us can do a lot! No, as individuals we don’t have the power to
transform our entire society in a positive way.
But we each can do our personal part to help make it happen.
For example, here are some simple, everyday
activities that we can engage in on a regular basis: actions that will help to
promote respect and courtesy and hospitality toward other people (this, by the
way, is not an exhaustive list—these are just a few suggestions):
- Stop
your car when people are trying to cross the street in a designated crosswalk
(that’s courtesy—plus it’s the law!)
- Allow
someone to go ahead of you in traffic every once in a while—or in the church
parking lot
- Refuse
to use ethnic or racial slurs—ever!
- Say
“please”—and “thank you”
- Write
thank you notes to people who give you special gifts
- Pay
more attention to the people you’re with and less attention to your cell phone
- Turn
your cell phone off in church—even if the organist doesn’t ask you to do so
- Don’t
text when you drive
- Try to
be on time for things (including Mass!)
- Speak
about people in authority respectfully, even if you don’t like the things they
say and do (young people, that includes your parents!)
- When
you disagree with someone, stick to the issues and avoid arguments directed
against the person himself or herself
- When
you see somebody new at church, say hello
- When
you’re in a social setting where you notice someone being left out of the
conversation, try to find a way to include them in it
- Support
the right to life of every human person, from natural conception to natural
death
- Oppose
euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
- Support
immigration (that is to say, legal
immigration!)
- Choose
to be “colorblind” when it comes to race.
In other words, treat everyone with the dignity and respect they
deserve. Physically speaking, as we all
know, colorblindness is a condition—a medical condition that some of us may,
unfortunately, have. But in the area of
personal morality, colorblindness is a choice:
a good choice; the right choice. So make
it.
- Make every effort to live your life by the “Golden Rule” (which, of course, was given to us by Jesus himself): “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Those are all simple but very important things that we can do in our lives right now to counter the disrespect, discourtesy and lack of hospitality that are literally infecting our American culture at the present time.
It’s even worse than the coronavirus!
May God grant us the grace—and the determination—to
put suggestions like these into practice, to help our nation get rid of the
infection.