The Other

I met my friends Tony, Matt and Bri for noon Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary and lunch in Little Italy today.  It was a nice break from work and planning and thinking way too hard about ministry.

The priest who celebrated Mass today, Fr. Louie, brought up something that has been on my heart since I returned from the Dominican.  That is the concept of the "other".

Our Church today celebrates the feast of a holy priest, St. Peter Claver.  He dedicated his life to ministering to people who were considered the "other": Africans sold into slavery and brought to what is now South America.  He gave them food and drink.  Cared for the sick and dying. Taught the Africans about God.  And converted thousands of souls to the Church.

But what made the people of the 17th century see these Africans as the "other"?  Was it the color of their skin?  Was it their socio-economic status?  Were they "less" human?  What made St. Peter want to serve them?

And what about today?  We have lots of "others" in our midst here in the United States.  Why are some of the "others" in our country treated with dignity and some not?

Over the weekend, my dad and I were talking about all of the political issues that have come up in this election year.  And he posed the question: Why are we Americans so insistent on strict immigration laws and practices?  And what would happen if the strict immigration laws that some voters desire caused the immigrants who perform the many tasks of our many service industries to not be in this country?

When I first started working in the Haitian villages, I definitely did see those people as the "other"...at first.  But as we grew in relationship, their need for love and friendship and God was no different than mine.

As I have met and related with Christians from non-Catholic churches over the past few months, I definitely felt the awkwardness of the denominational boundaries...at first.  But when we prayed, we prayed to the same triune God with the same desire to worship our Creator.

Maybe, just maybe, the "other" is not as different as we think they are.  And maybe, the sooner we recognize the "other" in our midst, the sooner we can ask for God's grace to see them for who they are: a son or daughter of God, just like us.