Looking into the Mirror of another Person's Life

Today’s first reading, Wisdom 2: 1a, 12-22, speaks of the difficulty we sometimes have when we encounter someone who mirrors what we are not, that is, the holiness of God. Why were some of the people in Jesus’ day so hostile toward Him? Is it possible that they saw in Him what was lacking in their own way of life and in their personal way of relating to others.   In our lives, a Christian who takes seriously what the Scriptures ask of him/her may cause us some discomfort or even lead us to complain: “She thinks she’s so holy” or “He thinks he goody-two-shoes; I can’t stand him.” What we may see in that mirror is what is lacking in our own attitudes, commitments and  behaviors.  Sometimes we want to do away with those who, in a real sense, put us to shame.  With the author in today’s chapter from the book of Wisdom, we might believe that “[b]ecause his  life is not like that of others, and different are his  ways  [that]  he judges us debased; [that ]  he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.”  The truth is that we judge ourselves “debased.”  It is not the person doing good who is judging us. We are the judges of our faithfulness, our ways of being Godlike, of living authentic, Eucharistic lives, whereby we allow ourselves to be broken for others, to be poured out as blessed wine to quench anothers’ thirst for righteousness, justice, and goodness.

May we have the humility, O Lord, to look upon others as You do and when they are doing good give praise to you. May we also have the humility to look at our own lives and ask the question: how can I live the Gospel more authentically?  When the goodness of another repulses me, when I feel uncomfortable around someone who is  pouring our his/her life for the sake of another’s well-being, may I have the wisdom to look deeply into my own heart to discover the source of my discomfort.   I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.