Engage, Enrage then divide … Repeat … Living in a judgmental world 

Do you ever wake in the morning and then just think the way I handled that was just too judgmental? Yes, I probably could have heard that person’s perspective a little longer, instead of reacting straight away. Why is it that some people just seem to set me off and then cause me to put them into a category that I am just waiting for others to join? Until, one day, there are just too many people in this category and maybe it’s me not them. 

Today, when we are bombarded with messages from politicians, the media, and others try to get us engaged, enraged, and then divided neatly into activated piles of pre-judged characters or characteristics; this is how the world seems to operate. It’s an exhausting scene, where we are continually bombarded with the need to judge, or even worse, pre-judge others. Engage, enrage and divide! 

Soon, we become walking zombies looking for like-minded groups who will join our clan of opinions; carefully wearing the same outfits so we can be easily identified by those we want to attract, and those we don’t. So, they don’t come near us. Threatening us with dialog, conversation or God forbid, understanding and compassion. No, I would rather engage, enrage, and divide! 

OK, so I am exaggerating a little, but not by much. Many have come to understand our personal judgmentalism (yes, that’s a real word) as both a weapon and a part of our identity. But it’s not as simple as that. This exhaustion can cause, in extreme cases, us to reflect that we are being too judgmental, and the problem is me and not all the others. This self-reflection is, of course, a healthy practice. If we think we are being too judgmental about many things, our mind and thoughts will continue to reinforce our desire to “reject” others and our thinking about a particular group instantly leaps to “keep them out of my life” and my thoughts are overwhelmed by my dislikes. Dwelling on dislikes tends to create a personal wake (like a wave) for those around you. They become washed over by these predispositions and dislikes to the point that the forward water in our lives, (that is the part ahead of the wake), is going to be driven by the same thought process. While this strategy can cause us to find like-minded individuals who agree with us almost instantly, it reinforces behavior that is not helpful. We become divided quickly and semi-permanently from others. It is not where we want to be. 

Our personal wake or spiritual footprint is left all over the place, rather like a muddy pair of boots after walking the farmyard. We are spreading our message about where we are coming from, but not in a good way. 

So, what is the alternative? Well, the first point is to change the first word in the process here, engagement. As soon as we become engaged we can become activated, and then once activated we start moving along a process of engagement and a disposition of agreement with ourselves or others. This leads us to enragement, the second step. So, some interference is required during the engagement process. Instead of activation, we need to begin to listen, to reflect, to discern BEFORE we move to that rapid conclusion that this is a problem. Moving to dialog could even become a possibility. Humor intended. 

Our current, and past of course, world affairs discourses are a perfect example of how this process works. Bringing others into the relevant tribe is the goal, but the method is often very unappealing and lacks any intention of dialog, listening or understanding before a conclusion is reached. The goal is to reach a conclusion as rapidly as possible with as few stops along the way. Then reinforce it to as many others as possible. It is not a pretty sight. 

Perhaps the most important benefit from this reflection is the recognition that this is a situation that has become more prevalent because we are being encouraged to sidestep the peace-filling gifts of empathy, compassion and understanding before we get to use them. Engagement, in social media in particular, is designed to get to the next click, the next movement, the next step and keep the “eyeballs” and attention on the prize, whatever that prize is. A new product, an opinion, weight loss, better health. You name the prize. 

These wonderful gifts are being deliberately removed from the table and replaced with simple, sometimes vilifying options for us to choose from. So, we move from the concept of research and discernment from a variety of viewpoints, to a deliberate and firm position which many others have already reached. You are now a part of that “club”. Without even realizing that a “club” has been used on you to get you to this place. 

AI is yet another tool that can either help or hinder the engage, enrage and divide world we live in. It can be used for good, where AI will distill the results of a question, we may have into useful cliff notes to help us decide the next steps. Or it can be used to inform us of yet another conspiracy theory, depending on the information sources used to inform that Mr. or Ms. AI are distilling opinions and results for your consumption. 

The antidote to all this madness is the principles of mindfulness and contemplation. Both practices rely on us collating and gathering information calmly and neutrally. A world where conclusions are far away from the starting gate. Then, as the information flows towards us, we become guided by this flow, picking the pathways through reflection and discernment, unrushed and unhurried by the need to be at the destination in a few microseconds.

Such is the practice in Centering Prayer, where our agendas and predefined expectations are left in the parking lot, and perhaps even, we have happily forgotten where we parked the car. 

Here, we are left alone with God to guide us. To reach that place within where those noises are not heard or felt. Where we and the most beloved are just engaged with each other. Where we rest in each other without expectations. 

Copyright Reflection, Poem and Image 2024 Michael J. Cunningham OFS 

I can see you

I can see you

Hiding that thing you want from me

That desire to tell me what to think

What to say

What to do 

I can see you

A member of the clan that’s not me

I can see you

But an enemy in disguise

Pretending to know me by kind words

Hiding in sheep’s clothing

I can see you

I can see you

Your message is clear to me

You have taken God and painted him in your own colors

Without asking me first

What colors I like

I can see you

I can see you

The mask and show of yourself

The projection to the world

Of what you are trying to do

Of who you are trying to influence 

I can see you

I can see you

But now you are infecting me

With your desire to control

So my desire is to reject

You and all your wares

I can see you,

But I can’t see me clearly anymore 

Because I see you 

Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 417

Reading 1

Ez 16:1-15, 60, 63

The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.
Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem:
By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan;
your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
As for your birth, the day you were born your navel cord was not cut;
you were neither washed with water nor anointed,
nor were you rubbed with salt, nor swathed in swaddling clothes.
No one looked on you with pity or compassion
to do any of these things for you.
Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome,
the day you were born.

Then I passed by and saw you weltering in your blood.
I said to you: Live in your blood and grow like a plant in the field.
You grew and developed, you came to the age of puberty;
your breasts were formed, your hair had grown,
but you were still stark naked.
Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old enough for love.
So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover your nakedness;
I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you;
you became mine, says the Lord GOD.
Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood,
and anointed you with oil.
I clothed you with an embroidered gown,
put sandals of fine leather on your feet;
I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.
I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms,
a necklace about your neck, a ring in your nose,
pendants in your ears, and a glorious diadem upon your head.
Thus you were adorned with gold and silver;
your garments were of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth.
Fine flour, honey, and oil were your food.
You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of a queen.
You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was,
because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you,
says the Lord GOD.

But you were captivated by your own beauty,
you used your renown to make yourself a harlot,
and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by,
whose own you became.

Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.

Or:

Ez 16:59-63

Thus says the LORD:
I will deal with you according to what you have done,
you who despised your oath, breaking a covenant.
Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.
Then you shall remember your conduct and be ashamed
when I take your sisters, those older and younger than you,
and give them to you as daughters,
even though I am not bound by my covenant with you.
For I will re-establish my covenant with you,
that you may know that I am the LORD,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.

Responsorial Psalm

Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

R. (1c) You have turned from your anger.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. You have turned from your anger.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. You have turned from your anger.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. You have turned from your anger.

Alleluia

See 1 Thes 2:13

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but, as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 19:3-12

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mass during the Day

Lectionary: 622

Reading 1

Rv 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB

God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”

Responsorial Psalm

PS 45:10, 11, 12, 16

R. (10bc)  The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father’s house.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

Reading II

1 Cor 15:20-27

Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for “he subjected everything under his feet.”

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 1:39-56

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.