an article on immigration reform in the U.S.. I haven't bothered to link it, suffice to say that the article, written for a Catholic online publication, seems to take the usual U.S. right-right-of-center attitude on the subject. It put me in mind of an article I read in our parish bulletin this week, part of which I reproduce here:
"The Little Pact of Mercy
By Alice Camille
Mercy is in danger of becoming an antique word. We live in a tough world where cynicism is the protective wrapping around many hearts. Hostility toward the enemy and suspicion of the stranger are the norm. Our bitterly partisan culture encourages us to be vitriolic toward competing ideas and those who hold them. It's acceptable and even fashionable to be rude, self-promoting, and other-denying. The more hysterical the public rhetoric is, the farther it travels and the more popular it becomes.
We must oppose this trend. Christians can‘t afford to toss their hats in the ring with intolerance, arrogance, and downright cruelty. When hysteria rules, we must remain good stewards of our words and emotions and where they lead us. Spraying unbridled passion about self-indulgently is incompatible with the baptismal vocation. We're called to surrender our lives for others, not trample them underfoot if they oppose our point of view.
Why is that important? Because demonstrating mercy toward the neighbor is an imperative of our faith. Eternal life hangs in the balance when we choose to exercise or deny compassion. The great commandment obliges us to love God and neighbor. And if we want to quibble about the definition of neighbor, we only have to listen to the parable of the Good Samaritan again.
Good Samaritan has become a metaphor for do-gooding; that's unfortunate. The Good Samaritan is not a philanthropist spreading money around on his favorite causes. No, the Samaritan is a charitable guy in the traditional sense. He‘s a brave man who crosses clear social lines to rescue the wrong person: his enemy. A man who hates him. A man to whom he owes nothing, neither kindness nor sustenance. Chances are the fellow in the gutter would have let the Samaritan bleed to death had the roles been reversed. The Samaritan doesn‘t weigh that probability very heavily when making the decision to help.
Most of us can‘t get our minds around what the Samaritan does because we can‘t even offer an ideological opponent common courtesy, never mind spending time, money, and genuine com passion on the suffering of a perceived foe. We have little practice with sympathy, much less empathy. The modern model is to be sarcastic, distant, and unconcerned. "Not my problem, not my job" is the mantra. Many of us don‘t even want to hear about the plight of undocumented immigrants, or gay bashing, or the intimidation of American Muslims, or the continued effect of racism and sexism, even when it operates in our church assemblies.
The Good Samaritan remains a rather lonely fellow. Yet the advice of Jesus is plain: "Go and do likewise." "
My apologies for reproducing this much of it, but it spoke so eloquently to the issue. Politics does us no good if it can't be leavened with charity...
2 comments:
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