In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul wrote, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience…And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” These virtues are not easy to practice, but they are key to making God’s kingdom more present on Earth. So, how can we approach this task?
Singer-songwriter Sarah Hart finds inspiration in a pivotal moment from monk and author Thomas Merton’s life. While standing on a street corner one day in Louisville, Ky., Merton was suddenly overwhelmed by a divine sense of love for all the people around him, even though they were strangers. “They were mine and I theirs,” he wrote. In her newsletter, Hart acknowledged that it can be hard to see our fellow human beings like this. Still, she noted that this experience reminded her of a famous quote from St. Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
“In this crazy world with all of its ample causes for frustration and division,” Hart observed, “we are called to treat each person with equal dignity and respect, to see Christ there, and to see our…sacred belongingness to one another…Here is where one person can make a difference. We each have the power within us to try…to know someone, to truly see someone, or even just to work at it. The way of love is paved one thought, word, gesture, or kindness at a time.”
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In other words, the way of love is paved by making the next right choice based on what is going on in our lives. Passionist priest Father Robert Joerger shared a story about this kind of decision in The Sunday Mass Prayer Guide. He recalled his grandmother giving him a particular piece of advice when he was a young boy. She would say, “Bobby, don’t ever look down at a beggar on the street. He could be Christ come back.”
These words came to mind again years later on a frigid day as he was leaving a meeting and walking toward his parked car on the street. A “disheveled” man in tattered clothes approached Father Joerger. The priest braced himself for the financial appeal that he knew was coming, but then he remembered his grandmother’s words, “He could be Christ come back.”
“Father, please help me, I am so hungry,” the beggar implored. Father Joerger took out his wallet and discovered that all he had were a $50 bill and a $1 bill. It took him a few seconds to decide, but the priest ultimately handed the man the $50. The man hugged and kissed Father Joerger, declaring, “You are the best priest I’ve ever met!”
Father Joerger reflected, “Maybe Christ kissed me today and encouraged me to be faithful to who I say I am.”
Seeing the image of Christ reflected in individuals we may be tempted to look down on can be a challenge. It’s easier to simply judge them based on their appearance or status in life. But Father Joerger came to see the man who approached him not just as “a beggar,” but as a fellow human being “that could be Christ come back.” He remembered, in Mother Teresa’s terms, that “we belong to each other.” Wouldn’t our world be better if we all remembered that?
For free copies of the Christopher News Note SEEING GOD IN UNEXPECTED PLACES, write: The Christophers, 264 West 40th Street, Room 603, New York, NY 10018; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org
‘Our sacred belongingness’