Each human being is a
unique and unrepeatable gift of God.
This is the heart of the mystery of the human person. It is the central teaching of our Catholic
Faith that underlies so many other teachings.
If it is obscured or made less than central, great confusion
follows. If it is personally grasped,
then it becomes a light, a prism through which everything else makes sense.
When we realized that
we are loved by God, and when we come to understand that every human being we
encounter is loved in the same way, we have to change our vision of the world
around us. We don’t see people as
enemies when we see them as persons with dignity and worth.
Our current culture
pretends to hold this value in some situations, but when it is measured with
clear sight, we have to acknowledge that it is more like George Orwell’s world
in the book Animal Farm: “All animals
are equal, but some are more equal than others.” We give due to ourselves and those we
personally care about, but those beyond our immediate world are not thought
about very much.
Pope Francis keeps
inviting us to seek out those who are left out “in the peripheries.” This does not necessarily mean traveling far
away, but rather opening our eyes to see one another as we live our ordinary
lives. Summer gives us an opportunity to
slow down. Can we take advantage of that
by trying to see one another more clearly?
Notice when someone is
sad or tired and take the time to ask them what is going on in their
lives. Spend some time playing with your
children – not just driving them to their extracurricular activities, but
staying close to home and doing something just for the opportunity to be
together.
Take some time also to
remember the folks who used to be part of your every day world. Where are they now? Is there anyone you have lost track of with
whom you ought to renew your relationship?
Who were your friends of long ago that still live nearby but have
drifted out of your life?
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