A Prescription for Divisive Times: Readings for Feb. 24, 2018 (Lectionary: 229)

We live in a divisive atmosphere.  People of good will have strongly held, but opposing, views. Others seek to aggravate and exploit legitimate disagreements for their political/commercial gain. That results in both policy paralysis and strained interpersonal relationships. Nothing is resolved and the underlying problems—and injured relationships—continue to fester. Talk about a devil’s brew.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Our Lord tells us, through today’s readings, how to start the healing. Let’s see what they say to us.

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do
Commentary/observations

Reading 1 Dt 26:16-19

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"This day the LORD, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you are making this agreement with the LORD: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I have learned your just ordinances. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Verse Before the Gospel 2 Cor 6:2b

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Gospel Mt 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

1.     Today’s gospel tells us that we are to honestly seek the good of those we disagree with.  That requires us to consciously put our anger aside, think instead about what would most bless individual people “on the other side,” and then do what we can to bring it about. Try to think of, and seek, things unrelated to the issues/actions you disagree on.

2.    That does not come naturally. That’s why God gives us helps.

A.   He gives us His word; it is a powerful aid for dealing with those we disagree with if we use it as a guide to healing instead of ammunition for our side of the fight.  Check out the scriptures collected in  Wisdom Principles-How to Deal with Those Who Do You Wrong.

B.    He gives us access to Himself and His wisdom through prayer; He will show us how to deal with those we are upset with. That’s why Jesus tells us to pray for them. If you lean left, pray for someone to your the right; if you lean right, pray for someone to your left. And don’t just pray that they come around to your way of thinking/behaving, pray that both of you come together around God’s will. Or maybe pray for help in living out the principles in the scriptures collected at the link in paragraph A above. And keep at it; Jesus frankly told us that it takes time and persistence for prayer to bear full fruit. See Luke 11:5-8 and Luke 18:1-8.

C.    Also on prayer, all of us, wherever we are on the political spectrum, have leaders we disagree with. We should follow Jesus’ command to pray for those (in our view) disagreeable leaders.  Scriptures on that are collected at:

Praying for Leaders: Why, When, and How

Praying for Leaders: That They be Fair, Honest, and not Corrupt

Praying for Leaders: That They Be Sensitive to the Weak and Disadvantaged

Praying for Leaders: That They Truly "Serve" and That They Do So with Humility

Praying for Leaders: That they be Able to Delegate/Rely on Subordinates and to Pick Honest Ones

Praying for Leaders: That they Recognize the Importance of Wise Counsel

D.   We must put real, concerted, intentional, effort behind dealing with our opposites in the ways scripture instructs. That’s what today’s first reading and psalm are referring to when they instruct us to “[b]e careful” to apply God’s precepts, to do so “all your heart and with all your soul,’ and to do so “diligently.”

E.    Don’t worry about what people on your side of the aisle think of your efforts to bless those on the other side. As the first reading says, God wants us to be “a people peculiarly his own,” so concentrate on pleasing Him rather than them.