This weekend’s readings challenge us to understand “the other” as sister and brother. A negative concept of “otherness” is a reality that allows for discrimination, persecution, racial and ethnic profiling …it is the ground from which grows the hatred of those who are not like me, those who are other from me and “my people”!
When we fail to see our common humanity then we believe that we are “different” from one another and then we see those who are not like us as “other”. And from this “seeing them as other” we can come to believe that we are superior or better than the one who is different from ‘my clan’, those who are like me.
This concept of “other” is the root idea that creates a situation where the one who is “other” is dehumanized and degraded. This is nothing new, it is as old as humanity itself. It is one of the root causes of wars and genocide, of slavery and tribal and ethnic feuds that have torn at the social fabric of nations and entire continents and now at the future of the entire global community.
In the Gospel we hear this weekend that Jesus tells us to be very careful about who we believe is on the inside and who is outside…because we might be the ones who end up on the outside, precisely because if we separated “others” out and made them “outsiders”! If we “othered them” pushed them to the margins of our society, excluded them, deported them from our country, imprisoned them, because they were “other” from us! And Jesus warns us that in doing so we will be the ones excluded from the Great Banquet in the Kingdom of God, and those who we deemed unworthy, those who we dehumanized and shunned, deported and imprisoned, they will recline at table, at the Great Banquet, and we “who othered them”, we will be tossed out into the darkness. Jesus’ vision is a cautionary tale, to call all Christians to reflect deeply on how we see, how we treat and how hold in our hearts those who are different from us.
In Jesus’ telling of this “cautionary tale” of “otherness”, Jesus is seeking to tell us that there is no “other”…that we are all the children of God…including all the migrants and immigrants around the world, like those at our southern border, those living down the street from us and working in our businesses. Jesus is telling us we are all sisters and brothers, beloved children of God!
Regardless of the color of our skin, the place or circumstance of our birth, our physical or mental abilities, or our social
status or our religious or political affiliation or our gender, or who we love, each and every one of us is connected as a
beautiful creation of God -- as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, whatever happens to one of us happens to all of
us!
Imagine if we lived like that…that is what Jesus did for us on the cross! What would our world look like, what would our
political conversation sound like if all Christians lived like that? Would we be banning books in our schools just because they were written by people of color or because they tell stories challenging racism or books that raise up stories of inclusion and representation to our children? These books written in the hopes that they will help our children grow up to build a society where diversity is celebrated and those who are “other” are welcomed and seen and made to feel loved and accepted -- as my sisters and brothers, just as they are, beloved children of God!
As Christians around this nation, if we really believed Jesus’ words, his call to love one another as ourselves, would the
National Guard and Federal Agents have taken over the streets of D.C., intimidating and racially profiling people, many of whom are natural born U.S. citizens? If we really believed what Jesus taught and how he called us to live with each other, to welcome the stranger, to love “the other”, would our national debate be about penalizing institutions and business that uphold and honor DEI policies?
Do I really believe that “we” are all God’s children, loved equally by God…and what does that mean for me and what does that mean for me in how I live my daily life? How does it call me to respond to what is happening right now in my
country and around the world?
May God’s most abundant grace be upon you. Amen.
Fr. Tim
When we fail to see our common humanity then we believe that we are “different” from one another and then we see those who are not like us as “other”. And from this “seeing them as other” we can come to believe that we are superior or better than the one who is different from ‘my clan’, those who are like me.
This concept of “other” is the root idea that creates a situation where the one who is “other” is dehumanized and degraded. This is nothing new, it is as old as humanity itself. It is one of the root causes of wars and genocide, of slavery and tribal and ethnic feuds that have torn at the social fabric of nations and entire continents and now at the future of the entire global community.
In the Gospel we hear this weekend that Jesus tells us to be very careful about who we believe is on the inside and who is outside…because we might be the ones who end up on the outside, precisely because if we separated “others” out and made them “outsiders”! If we “othered them” pushed them to the margins of our society, excluded them, deported them from our country, imprisoned them, because they were “other” from us! And Jesus warns us that in doing so we will be the ones excluded from the Great Banquet in the Kingdom of God, and those who we deemed unworthy, those who we dehumanized and shunned, deported and imprisoned, they will recline at table, at the Great Banquet, and we “who othered them”, we will be tossed out into the darkness. Jesus’ vision is a cautionary tale, to call all Christians to reflect deeply on how we see, how we treat and how hold in our hearts those who are different from us.
In Jesus’ telling of this “cautionary tale” of “otherness”, Jesus is seeking to tell us that there is no “other”…that we are all the children of God…including all the migrants and immigrants around the world, like those at our southern border, those living down the street from us and working in our businesses. Jesus is telling us we are all sisters and brothers, beloved children of God!
Regardless of the color of our skin, the place or circumstance of our birth, our physical or mental abilities, or our social
status or our religious or political affiliation or our gender, or who we love, each and every one of us is connected as a
beautiful creation of God -- as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, whatever happens to one of us happens to all of
us!
Imagine if we lived like that…that is what Jesus did for us on the cross! What would our world look like, what would our
political conversation sound like if all Christians lived like that? Would we be banning books in our schools just because they were written by people of color or because they tell stories challenging racism or books that raise up stories of inclusion and representation to our children? These books written in the hopes that they will help our children grow up to build a society where diversity is celebrated and those who are “other” are welcomed and seen and made to feel loved and accepted -- as my sisters and brothers, just as they are, beloved children of God!
As Christians around this nation, if we really believed Jesus’ words, his call to love one another as ourselves, would the
National Guard and Federal Agents have taken over the streets of D.C., intimidating and racially profiling people, many of whom are natural born U.S. citizens? If we really believed what Jesus taught and how he called us to live with each other, to welcome the stranger, to love “the other”, would our national debate be about penalizing institutions and business that uphold and honor DEI policies?
Do I really believe that “we” are all God’s children, loved equally by God…and what does that mean for me and what does that mean for me in how I live my daily life? How does it call me to respond to what is happening right now in my
country and around the world?
May God’s most abundant grace be upon you. Amen.
Fr. Tim
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