As part of my ministry as chaplain to a pro-life club at the University of Portland, I interacted for many years with a wonderful group called the Equal Rights Institute, or ERI. One of their primary missions is to train pro-life advocates to have conversations with abortion supporters, especially on high school and college campuses.
They take a very data-driven approach to this mission, testing out many pro-life arguments “in the field” and employing or modifying their arguments accordingly. Their over-arching desire is to try to identify those pro-life approaches that are not only accurate, but, more important, would move the hearts and minds of people who aren’t yet pro-life.
They often remind the students they train that the goal is not to win an argument or a debate, but to win over people.
Right with One Another
Today’s first reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and today’s Gospel passage in Luke from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain together send a powerful, convicting message to us Christians. It is less important to be right in an argument, or even to assert your rights in a dispute, than it is to be right with your brothers and sisters and to be right with God.
First, just a brief clarification about what St. Paul is talking about. In his world, sometimes meat that was prepared and sacrificed to a pagan idol was then sold in the common marketplace for anyone to buy. And one of the disputed questions among the church in Corinth was, “Would it be moral for Christians to eat this meat?”
And St. Paul’s answer is very interesting. He notes that, since all these pagan gods and idols are basically nonsense, the meat wasn’t really sacrificed to anything at all, and so it would, in principle, be morally fine to eat it.
But, in practice, St. Paul points out that many of the members of the Christian community were converts from paganism, and for them, consuming such meat or watching their brothers or sisters do so might fill them with anxiety that they were somehow reverting back to their pagan ways.
And so, St. Paul concludes that, even though it’s morally licit in theory, for the sake of others, the right thing to do is refrain. Better to be right with your brothers and sisters than to be right about the argument.
The Greater Call to Mercy
And in the Gospel, Jesus makes even greater demands on us, but for even greater reasons. When we are mistreated, or when we lend money, justice dictates that we have certain rights.
If someone slaps us, we should be able to slap them back. If someone borrows money from us, we should receive repayment. This seems only right; after all we have rights.
But, shockingly, Jesus commands us to forego these normal expectations for restitution. But why? It’s not at all clear that such actions would lead to strengthening the relationship with the offender or the borrower, and Jesus doesn’t even suggest this.
Instead, such actions serve an even greater purpose, making us right with the Father, as we imitate Him. Listen again to these words from Jesus: But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.
A Greater Freedom
Now, make no mistake, being able to live like this could be the fruit only of real prayer, discipline and grace. We all have the desire to be proven right in arguments and to assert our rights in disputes.
But, if we could detach ourselves from these desires, and focus instead and connecting with our neighbors and connecting with God, imagine the blessings of interior freedom and outward peace in our hearts, our families, our parishes, and our communities.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Charlie's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join, too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
