7th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Cycle C
Have you ever wanted to
change a behavior or correct a bad habit or fix a relationship, and you put a
plan together to do so? Or have you ever wanted to grow in a virtue or nurture
a good behavior? Do you hear today’s gospel and think, “I need to get better at
doing these things”. I have, many times, and yet I always seem to fall back
into the old behaviors and habits. My plans always fall short of my desires and
expectations. It is very hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
My plans are always well
thought out and elegant. I read lots of books and articles that give me the
recipe for success, usually a bunch of things to do that would make me a great person.
I write these tips on pieces of paper and tape them to the walls of my office
or stick them in my bible or breviary. Sometimes I stick a post-it note on my
computer screen with a virtue I want to cultivate. This month’s virtue is
prudence. Then I make an effort to read them every morning or evening. The idea
is that if I affirm them long enough they will seep into my psyche and I will
change. My plans give me a sense of control. See, I’m doing something.
But invariably what happens
is that eventually I stop seeing those pieces of paper on my wall and I go back
to my more established, comfortable way of living, which is centered around me
and what I want. I can never remember to do all those things. And it is
mentally exhausting because I always have to be on guard. It is so much easier
to just go with my instincts, so much easier to react rather than be proactive.
And so it becomes a never-ending cycle and nothing much changes.
Jesus gives us his famous
teaching about loving our neighbors today. We are all familiar with this
passage. Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. The Golden Rule. Judge not.
Much of what it means to be a Christian disciple can be found here. They are
behaviors we can emulate and strive to live by. They are all things we can post
on our walls. We can practice them in
concrete ways. I can lend without expecting repayment. I can give to the poor.
I can try not to be judgmental. See, Lord, I am giving it my best effort. I’m a
good person because I am trying to be good.
The problem is, I think
that too often we see these things as part of some spiritual self-help program.
Just like me with my self-improvement plans, we see them as skills to develop,
not ways of changing our world view for the better. And, if we see them simply
as tasks to complete, eventually we lose interest in them. We only hear these
words spoken every once in a while. We do not make them habits, part of our
regular, comfortable way of doing things. How can we make the life-giving
changes to our lives that will make us true disciples?
We need to find a way to
start focusing not so much on the behaviors we want to foster in ourselves as
on the people we need to love. We need to stop thinking in terms of all the
things we need to do and start seeing people differently, as
Jesus sees them. If you want long term behavior change, don’t change your
attitudes, change how you see things. If you want better relationships with
others, view them differently. Change your mindset and your point of view. The
things you do will then naturally follow.
We too often see these
teachings as being the thing, when they’re not the thing. They are only results
of the thing. They are the things we do because of the real thing.
The real thing is people.
How we see people, how we
think about people, how we treat people is directly related to who we think
they are and how we see them in relation to ourselves. The reason we fail so
often in living these teachings of Jesus is because we don’t see people the way
Jesus sees them. Jesus did all these things: He fed the hungry, gave sight to
the blind, cured the lame, gave to the poor, came not to judge but to show
mercy. And I bet you he didn’t have to tape a list of these behaviors on his
bedroom wall to remind him and help him get better. He did them because they
were the natural result of how he viewed everyone he came in contact with. It
was easy for him to do them because they were the direct outcomes of who he is
and who we are. They are the direct outcomes of love.
And it should be easier
for us to do also because of who we are and who He is. How many of you have
children? As you raise them, do you ever think twice about feeding them,
clothing them, giving them shelter, taking care of them when they are sick or
hurt, consoling them when they are upset? Do you have to put up a list of these
behaviors on the refrigerator next to their artwork to remind you how to act?
Of course not. You do them easily and naturally and without complaint because
you love your children. You want the best for them not because you want to be
the best parent in the world, but because that’s what love is and what love
does. We do these things for the ones we love easily and naturally, without
planning or a second thought.
St. Augustine once said,
“Love, then do as you will”. You cannot love outside of God, because God is
love. Jesus acted the way he did because he is love itself. He could not act
any other way. We are all called not just as disciples but as human beings to
act out of love for one another. Augustine went on to preach, “If you hold your peace, hold your peace
out of love. If you cry out, cry out in love. If you correct someone, correct
them out of love. If you spare them, spare them out of love. Let the root of
love be in you: nothing can spring from it but good.”
It really isn’t that hard
to live out the teachings of the Lord. Just keep it simple. Hear the word of
God in today’s readings and use those behaviors as measurements of how well you
are loving. Don’t focus on the doing, focus on love. Get yourself out of the
way and stop trying to force your behavior to change. If you strive to serve
others out of love, you will do all those things Jesus asks of you, and more
besides. See others as Jesus sees them, and you will treat them as Jesus treats
them. See each and every person you come in contact with as having the worth
and dignity of a beloved son or daughter of the Father, and your behavior
towards them will follow.
And the best thing, by
focusing on loving others, you will also be loved. You will get as good as you
give.
Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down,
and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
