Have you ever had the experience of having to work alongside someone who seems completely different than you – how they dress, the religion they follow, the political party they affiliate with – and yet by the end of the time spent together you discover that you have a lot more in common then you ever imagined? It makes me think of the famous movie The Breakfast Club, where five high school students from different cliques have to spend a Saturday in detention together. They are all extremely different from one another and the film slowly reveals that maybe they aren’t as different as they think. Every human heart wants to be seen and heard. This is something that every human being has in common. Our humanity has the power to connect us or divide us – it depends on how we decide to live the tension. As Christians, the unifying factor is Jesus – Word become flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). The Father sent His Only Begotten Son to put on human flesh, starting out small and vulnerable, letting Him live the natural stages of our humanity transforming it with His divinity. God becoming man sheds light on our humanity in a way nothing else can, leaving nothing untouched. This creates the possibility of a bridge that can be built with all human beings regardless of what they believe. It is sometimes scary to be put into contact with those who think differently or who have different values than us, but when we look at Jesus, we find in Him the perfection of humanity. We can look to Jesus and His time on Earth to see how to interact with those very different from ourselves. Jesus always met the people He encountered where they were at. He was able to see past the superficial and external distractions and so He was able to see their heart. He was able to see what they truly desired out of life or even what they desire beyond their own words (think of all the times Jesus first forgives sins and then physically heals someone even though they only asked for physical healing). The Lord recognized what was truly valuable and He does the same with each one of us. How can we imitate Jesus this month?
A part of our baptismal call is to reach out to those who are far from the church or far from Jesus. This is sometimes easier said than done as it can be difficult to know how to reach out to someone without seeming like we are condemning them or judging them. That is why it is important to start gently and simply. It is not so much what we have to say that matters but the way we live our lives. We are called to witness our faith first and foremost. We are called to witness the joy of Christ in our lives and the great hope that we have from being redeemed by Him. This redemption is a promise of eternal life that comes after this earthly life. So many people lack hope and joy in their lives – witnessing to these two spiritual realities can bring so much good into our world. Still, we learn this first and foremost from Jesus himself. In his public ministry, He mostly tended to Israelites. He clearly stated that He was called to serve the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24), but that then it would be those who came after Him who He would send to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19). However, Jesus had three significant interactions with Gentiles that were recorded in the Gospels. WE can look at these three episodes – the Canaanite woman (Matt. 15:21-28), the Centurion (Luke 7:1-10), and also Pontius Pilate (Jn 18:28-19:16) to learn how He went beyond the exterior to arrive to their hearts. Jesus’ approach to these three people in the end is very similar – He finds what it is valuable and important in each of them and enters into dialogue there. In Luke’s version of the Centurion the Gospel says he had a slave that “was valuable to him.” His slave’s health is very dear to him. The Gospel also says that he helped build the synagogue and cared for the Israelites. Jesus engages him where His heart is and from there pulls out the faith of the Centurion. So often difficult moments in our lives become places of deep encounter with God, sometimes we just need to be helped in seeing that God wants to meet us there. Like the friends of the Centurion who certainly would have told him about Jesus, we can share our experience of Jesus’ power with those who do not know Him.
With the Canaanite woman, Jesus puts himself in a posture of listening. Culturally speaking Jesus could have easily ignored her for the fact that she was not an Israelite and was considered impure. However, He chooses to listen. He decides to stop and discover what is valuable to this woman. Creating space for dialogue and listening in a world caught up in technology creates a space of real encounter. This is what Jesus does with Pontius Pilate as well. Jesus speaks about what is important to Pilate – Truth.
So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (Jn 18:37-28)
We don’t know if Pilate and Jesus had ever met before, but most likely they had heard of each other. Jesus recognizes in Pilate his desire to find truth even if he isn’t always able to embrace it and respond justly to it, Jesus enters into dialogue with Pilate there. But going on we notice that Jesus doesn’t begin to argue with Pilate about what truth is, rather He invites him into the search. Almost as if to ask “do you desire to know the truth that’s resounding inside of you? I know what you seek, and what you seek is a person not a series of responses”. Jesus goes toward what Pilate holds dear and invites him to enter more deeply into his heart to ask himself deeper questions then what his senses tell him. When we dialogue with others, in particular regarding the topic of truth, it is important to make sure the other person feels heard and seen in what they are sharing even if we don’t agree with them completely. But like Jesus we can try to bring them into contact with what their heart truly desires – most likely it is not the “right response” but the deep truth that they are loved eternally by God and that love is the call for every human being.
In Pope Francis’ new encyclical on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ, Delixit nos, we are invited to reflect on returning to the heart. Pope Francis writes
“The heart is also the locus of sincerity, where deceit and disguise have no place. It usually indicates our true intentions, what we really think, believe and desire, the “secrets” that we tell no one: in a word, the naked truth about ourselves. It is the part of us that is neither appearance or illusion, but is instead authentic, real, entirely “who we are”.” (#5) When we invite others to ask themselves these deep questions like “Who am I?” “What do I truly desire out of life?” What is my heart saying to me?” we can share our own experience of these same questions with them. We can share how we too are asking ourselves those same questions, sometimes we have the answers and sometimes we don’t, but we know that Jesus’ voice is the voice that tells us who we are, that we are loved and that we all have a purpose in this world. When we share our struggles hopes and joys from the same playing field, we bring humanity back into our interactions and we discover that maybe in the heart of hearts we really aren’t all that different from one another. We all make mistakes and fall into sin, but we are infinitely loved and delighted in by our Creator.
So like the closing letter from the Breakfast Club, we can answer the principals question “who are you?” saying “what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal… Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”
Concrete resolutions:
- Offer a listening ear in patience and charity to those who have different beliefs from me this month.
- Try not to always defend my point of view, but follow Jesus’ example of silent and peaceful actions with Pontius Pilate
- Read Pope Francis’ encyclical Dilexit nos, to become more in contact with Jesus’ humanity and the human heart that longs to be seen and heard.
This month’s meditation is by Sr. Kate, AVI.
