Enter the Loving Gate

Enter the Loving Gate

Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

June 12, 2012

By Beth DeCristofaro

Jesus said to his disciples:  "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.  This is the Law and the Prophets.  "Enter through the narrow gate;  for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,  and those who enter through it are many.  How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.  And those who find it are few."  (Matthew 7:12-14)

Piety

Lord God, I mull over the many people you put into my life, lifting them up to you in gratitude for their lives.  Now, Lord God, when I encounter them, may I lift them up in that moment and treat them as if they were as they are, your image here on earth. 

Study

Ironic.  What we call The Golden Rule is cited in various forms in many, many world religions and cultures.  It is also known as the Ethic of Reciprocity and emphases the oneness of life and humanity.  In ancient Egypt “Do for One who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do”.  Buddhism teaches “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”  In Confucianism the saying goes “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.”  In Islam it is said “None of you (truly) believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”  And I like the saying from Jainism “A man should wander about treating all creatures as he, himself, would be treated.”  These are just some of the examples that cross epochs, cultures and peoples which I found on the websites https://www.scarboromissions.ca/index.php and http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm.

What is ironic is that cruelty, prejudice, mean-spiritedness, war, conflict, feuds also cut across each of these religions, cultures and peoples.  And I think that that is what Jesus was getting at as he spoke about how difficult is the narrow and constricted road to life.  Living a code that treats everyone as important as I am…  That calls for me to recognize the God-given dignity of everyone else.

Of course, Jesus the teacher would know the ancient Hebraic Law.  And, of course, Jesus God and Man would raise the bar of this ethical code to a law of love.  Not just don’t hurt others so that they don’t hurt you, Jesus wants us to Love.  Love God.  Love others as we love ourselves.  His rule is stems from the basic rights of humans as sons and daughters of God. 

Action

Whether I kid myself or not, I know there are days when I’m on the wide cultural highway which is the easy way.  In what ways do I, do you, identify and relate to other people using cultural prejudices, fears, hates, superiorities?  In what ways can I/you find God instead of Other in people God has placed in my/your life?