Monday of the Thirteenth Week
“Sometimes, when someone has something that’s nicer than mine or clothes that look prettier than mine, I like to insult them, to make them feel bad and ugly, so that I won’t feel so bad about myself.” This, in essence, is what my older daughter told me after I asked her to stop picking on her younger sister. And while these words seem childish, immature, and even selfish and hurtful, in some ways the expression is not far removed from the way that adults often act as well. We may think that we are far above such base treatment, but at times we also feel like the best way to make ourselves feel better is to make others look or feel bad.
So it is good when we hear a passage like today’s first reading from Genesis where Abraham is petitioning God on behalf of Sodom. Abraham might have said something like, “Go ahead, destroy them, they deserve it. I’m the holy one.” But he doesn’t. He pities them and beseeches God to spare them if even just ten innocent people can be found in the city. “The Lord is kind and merciful,” (Ps 103:8a) is our psalm response today, and we see how Abraham’s concern reflects the same sort of kindness and mercy.
Politeness at one time used to be a norm for our society. But in recent times, even politeness seems to have disappeared. Genuine kindness is even rarer. Nonetheless, we are called to be kind to one another – to smile, to ask questions, to listen generously, and, well, just to be nice. It sounds easier than it is. Anyone with family knows how difficult it can be to be kind to a spouse or a child, particularly at the end of the day. Anyone in a hurry knows how difficult it can be to be patient with slow drivers or slow grocery shoppers who get in the way.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells us to follow him (Mt 8:22). If this is to be our top priority, it will change our lives, continually calling us to transformation or conversion. To follow the Lord, we must be like Him, kind and merciful. Though we might be inclined to make others feel bad, we have to strive, like Abraham, to help others. Of course, this won’t be achieved in a day, but we can grow in kindness.
Today’s saint, St. Cyril of Alexandria, is a 5th century bishop and doctor of the Church who is known for his role at the Council of Ephesus, where he argued that Mary should be called the Mother of God, and not simply the Mother of Jesus. While we often say the line “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” we seldom realize that the phrase “Mother of God” was once a source of great division in the Church. St. Cyril wanted it to be clear that Jesus was one person, human and divine. Thus we pray to Mary as the Mother of God, and we see in her another model of the kindness and mercy that comes in following Jesus. Like her, may we strive to give glory to God in all things, and to want God’s glory to be revealed in every person. The best way to help our own growth in discipleship and to assure our salvation is to seek the same for those who surround us.
- Maria Morrow