I remember hearing a story of a priest who went to stay with his niece and her husband. They were a young couple and were into occult practice. He knew that and they knew that he knew that, so it was going to be awkward and they were nervous about him staying. But when he came and stayed with them, he never said anything to them about it. He was just very loving and considerate of them both and their needs. They were so moved by this, that it actually brought about their conversion. This story taught me a lot. The power of love and seeing good in others. Frank Duff, who started the Legion of Mary, had this expression, ‘Win an argument, lose a soul.’ Love is what wins people over.
All of us grow up with prejudice. We aren’t even aware of most of it, but it is there. Before we see human beings, we tend to see someone who is American, Irish, Polish, or black, white, Asian, or Muslim, or Christian. But these are all human categories that we apply to people, and even though they may be a way of telling us something about a person, we have a lot of associations with each category. If they are American, then I will probably be accepting of them, since I am an American. If they are from somewhere else, we may think we have to be careful, if they are a priest maybe we have to be careful too. But if you take away all the different labels, then first of all you have another human being before you and that is the only thing that matters.
This was really brought home to me visiting two prisoners in Dublin over two years while I was in the seminary. It was a great education for me and very humbling. One thing that really struck me, was that if I had grown up with the same circumstances as they had, the chances of me being in that prison would be very high. One man was in for a very serious murder, which he deeply regretted. It was a freak meeting and a provoked fight, which resulted in a murder. If you were to form a picture of him from the papers, you would write him off as a monster, but he wasn’t a monster, rather someone who committed a very serious crime. Visiting him over the two years helped me to see that he was a very decent human being, even though he had committed a terrible crime.
It says in Genesis that ‘God saw all that He had made and indeed it was good.’ God’s creation is basically good and every human being is basically good. The good in them/us may have gotten buried because of the different hurts we have encountered, or because of what we were taught growing up, but there is good in everyone and that goodness is what we must try and find in each person.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus was showing the people that there could be good even in someone like a Samaritan. They were prejudiced in thinking that there could not be any good in a Samaritan, simply because someone was a Samaritan. Ironically we now associate the name Samaritan with someone who does good to others, but at the time that Jesus gave this parable it would have been the opposite. It would have been like trying to convince someone in the Ukraine, that there could be good in someone in the Russian army, or vice versa. They would have found this very difficult to believe. But Jesus in his wisdom used this parable to force them to admit that there could be good even in someone that they were totally prejudiced against. He was helping them to see their prejudice.
All the people around us, no matter what they believe, or where they come from, are human beings before they are anything else: ordinary people trying to raise their families and make their way in the world, just like the rest of us. Even if they have a totally different understanding of God to ours, or indeed don’t believe in God at all, there still can be goodness in them.
I suppose a prejudice closer to home that we fall into, is to see the migrants coming across the southern border as a problem, rather than as human beings. The political side has to be sorted out for sure and every country has a right to protect its borders, but the place to start is by seeing a human being with their needs, before the political side. If someone standing in front of me is hungry, or thirsty, then the Lord calls me to help them with their human needs. Only then, should the political side be looked at. That’s what Jesus is teaching us through this parable. Don’t ignore someone’s needs because they are a Samaritan, or whatever group they belong to. Start off by seeing them as a human being. The Missionaries of Charity, started by St. Teresa of Calcutta, spend much of their time taking people in off the streets who are dying. They clean them up and allow them to die with dignity. Most of the people they are dealing with are Hindu and Muslim, but they don’t try and convert them to Christianity. They simply help them because they are human beings in need. Needless to say they teach the people they help more about God by their love for them, than by anything they could ever say to them.
One of the reasons why we keep coming back to meeting Jesus in the mass, is because it is only in him that we find the strength to live with and love the people around us, especially those we may not like, or agree with. Our strength comes from Jesus himself. Every time we receive the Eucharist we are renewing our bond with the source of love, the one who is Love itself. Love comes from God, not from us. The more closely we are united to God, the more we can see his creation through his eyes.
So if you want to tell other people about God as we understand him, the best thing we can do is to love them. That will say more than anything else.
Let me finish with this prayer which is the perfect answer to when you find yourself wanting to give up on the world.
Anyway
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred.
Love them anyway.
If you do good people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spent years building, may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world The best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never
between you and them anyway.
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