Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 | Psalm 137:1-5 | John 1:47-51
I’ve written about today’s Gospel passage before, but I now have good reason to revisit my words. You see, I committed an act of religious prejudice yesterday, and even though it was in the silence of my heart, I’m compelled to write it down, so as to remind myself about this dark corner that I really should try very hard not to visit again.
We’d just switched over to a different coach captain, so that our beloved David, whom I wrote about the day before, could spend a few days with his family before heading out on another job. This man goes by the name Kurunamoorthy (Kuruna for short, and I’m not even sure I spelled that correctly), and while he seems like a remarkably jolly chap from Sri Lanka, I immediately pegged him as a Hindu, despite not seeing any outward signs in any religious direction.
Then at dinner, Fr. Paul Staes began our communal prayer of grace before meals, and I noticed Kuruna praying and making the sign of the cross just like everyone else.
Shame on me, indeed, especially since I’d just written last month:
Perhaps, by discounting the colour of others’ skin and their ancestry, we might also influence them by our love to turn to the same God we do, and isn’t that our mission on this earth?
Lord, I still have a long way to go, before I can truly call all brothers and sisters. Help me remember always to take people as they are, to learn about them before painting my own portrait atop their visages. Amen.