Pray for those who are divided from us

By Lou Occhi

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071021.cfm
Genesis 49:29-32; 50:15-26a
Matthew 10:24-33

Back in the 70’s I worked in St. Louis. Our office space had cubicles that were open in the front and had metal walls about waist high with glass extending up a couple of feet. There were four people per cubicle. An aisle ran between two strings of these cubicles. The point of all this is that all the engineers and techs in our area could see and talk with each other. At the time, we were going through gasoline shortages, so most of us brought our lunch from home and carpooled to work. After all, gasoline had skyrocketed to one dollar a gallon. At lunch, we would all chat together or break up into groups and play cards until lunch was over. Most of us did our own minor maintenance on our cars. One day we were chatting about engine oil. Some of us used Quaker State while the others used Pennzoil. Maury, who was in my car pool, said that Pennzoil is an inferior oil and that it comes from shallow wells that are contaminated. This started a big argument on Quaker State versus Pennzoil. There were some raised voices, hand waving and finger pointing. I would not have thought that oil was such a hot button issue. At the end of lunch, we all went back to work. It is worth noting that the Quaker State people and the Pennzoil people did not attempt to shun each other after our discussion. It was a friendly debate and when it was over it was over. On the way home, I told Maury I did not know he knew so much about engine oil. He replied that he knew nothing about oil; he just wanted to see what other people thought. 

Now you may be wondering how in Gehenna this ties into today’s readings. Well it seemed to me that both the first reading from Genesis and the gospel according to Matthew both had elements about discussions. 

The first reading was about Joseph. Joseph was one of Jacob’s sons and he was clearly the favorite son. His brothers, in a fit of jealousy, sold Joseph into slavery. Joseph went through many hard times as a slave. Through his fidelity to God and his intelligence, he eventually became an important member of the Pharaoh’s court and was very good at interpreting dreams. He prophesized that there would be a great famine. Pharaoh appointed him to stock a plentiful supply of grain to carry them through the coming famine. When the famine hit the Pharaoh had an ample stock of grain. Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to obtain some grain for their families. The brothers did not know that they would have to beg Joseph, their long lost brother, for the grain. When they found out that the man they are talking to was their brother they fell to their knees and begged forgiveness. Joseph explains to them they are forgiven. God put him where he was so that he could save many people’s lives. This whole scene could have gone terribly wrong in so many ways. The brothers could have maintained their hate and proclaimed that they would rather die than be indebted to their brother. Joseph could have held a grudge and denied them the grain they needed to survive. 

Today’s gospel is about how we are to spread the word of God. It says,“What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim from the house tops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” This means that we should not be afraid of talking about our faith. If someone is interested then we should talk with him or her in more detail. If they disagree, we should listen to what they have to say. If people adamantly disagree with us then that is their choice. If you go to salesperson school, the first thing they teach you is that you should not fear rejection. After all, rejection is not an option. It is a given! Christ was rejected and so were all the apostles and disciples. If they succumbed to rejection then Christianity would not be what it is today. Yet, in spite of their rejection by many, they never gave up on their quest of spreading the word of God. Except for John, all the other apostles were martyred. Their body was killed but they live on in paradise. 

We see negative approaches to conflict in our culture. People so entrenched in their ideology that they would prefer death to reconciliation. There are those who would rather destroy someone with different views than listen to them. As Christians, we are called to listen to those we disagree with and forgive those who have caused us harm. After all, the prayer Jesus taught us says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us”. 

Today we see a huge divide forming among families, within countries and between countries. Most of it seems to be over ideologies and religion. Years ago Father Don Dilg gave a homily on division. He said that the word demonic comes from the word division. The division we see going on in the world is demonic. Since we are primarily focused on religion we need to understand that there are some who hate us for what we believe. We see some comedians, celebrities, social media, TV and movies that disparage faith at every opportunity. During the pandemic churches were closed and listed as non-essential. On the other hand pot shops and liquor stores were open and considered essential. In Canada Catholic churches are being set on fire. One radio host said to burn them all down. As Christians we are called to love all people whether they hate us or not.

Jesus knew the apostles and disciples would face rejection and hate, so He gave them the way to handle it. 

Matthew 10:14 says,

“And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.”

This does not say to disparage them in any way. Instead, we should pray for them and for peace among all peoples.