Name: Yvonne Pratt-Johnson, Ed.D.
Title: Professor of Education
Department/College: The School of Education
Scripture of the Day: EZ 18: 21-28; MT 5: 20-26
Often, we who participate in a faith community often pride ourselves on being good because we attend weekly worship, perform charitable deeds, and are generous in our works of love and mercy to the poor and those in jeopardy. We can even boast of being neither envious of our neighbors’ success nor jealous of their accomplishments. But, the Gospel reading for today challenges us to look beyond these admirable deeds and to consider our attitude as well.
Today, we live in a global community surrounded by a diversity of cultures, languages, religions, lifestyles, ideas, and political affiliations, to name a few. We intermingle with people, our neighbors, from this community every day. What is our attitude toward people who are different from us? Do we readily embrace differences? Do we accept people whose beliefs we do not share or whose lifestyles we may not understand?
By our attitude, do we show the weak, the vulnerable, the immigrant, and the homeless that they, too, have worth in our eyes—in God’s eyes? Are we hospitable to the stranger? How do we respond to our neighbor with whom we disagree? What is our attitude toward our “different” neighbor?
The Gospel lesson today urges us to reexamine these questions and our attitude toward our neighbors. This holy season invites us to love God and our neighbors, recognizing that they are very much intertwined.
Read more reflections from Come Back to Me: Lenten Reflections from St. John’s University.