http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090714.cfm
It started
out simply as a game at a youth group. It seemed like a good
challenge for the teens and preteens who had gathered for a day
long retreat. I was a seminarian at the time, helping out at a
parish.
In this
game, each teen had to team up with a partner. In each team, one
person had to be blindfolded, the other person had to guide their
partner to the other side of a large room using only their voice. So
they couldn't grab the person's hand and drag them around. The teams
couldn't just go in a straight line, however, as there were several
obstacles that the blindfolded team member had to get around. As I
recall, there was an orange cone that you had to go all the way
around, a jump rope was laying across the floor that you had to jump
over. I think they had to walk backwards at one point and maybe they
had to do something with a ball. All very simple things to do that
are so much harder once your eyes are covered. Of course, the teens
were told it was also a race: first team to the other side of the
room wins. There was an odd number of students, so there was one
girl without a partner. One of the youth ministers agreed to be her
partner, and she agreed to be blindfolded.
What
happened during the game, was really quite amazing. As soon as
everyone was ready, someone said, “Ready, set, go!” Immediately,
all the students who were guides began yelling to their blindfolded
partners to come as quickly as possible. This resulted in a scene
reminiscent of a Three Stooges episode. The blindfolded students
began bumping into each other, and tripping over each other and the
obstacles (which meant they had to go back and start again) and even
going completely in the wrong direction. There was so much yelling
they couldn't tell whose voice was their partner's voice and
naturally they got confused. The blindfolded students started
yelling back, causing more confusion. Also, the guides' “directions”
consisted mainly of commands like, “Come this way! No, this way!
Now turn! No, the other way!”
Meanwhile,
the team with the youth minister and the girl was taking another
approach. The youth minister quickly saw that chaos was ensuing, so
he came close to his partner and began speaking to her in a normal
speaking voice, so she could clearly recognize his voice. Then he
said her name and started giving her very clear and calm
instructions. He'd say, “Okay, follow the sound of my voice and
start walking forward.” Whenever she would get to one of the
obstacles, he would have her stop and then explain to her what she
needed to do. “Okay, we're at the cone now. You need to walk
around it.” So he would actually guide her all the way across the
room, giving her help through each obstacle and giving encouragement
throughout. Not surprisingly, she was the first to get across the
room.
This story
isn't just an example of the old adage, “Slow and steady wins the
race.” My hope is that it will be a reminder to all of us that we
need to help each other from time to time. It might be something
simple like holding a door open or helping carry something heavy.
It might also require a bigger commitment, like helping a family
member or friend with a disability or an illness. There are many
ways to help someone else, but the help we offer needs to actually be
effective, otherwise we are just yelling in a crowded room, hoping to
be heard above the confusion.
In our
readings for today, God wants us to help each other grow in holiness
by encouraging each other to work on certain areas of our lives.
Now, before we get started, I want be clear that God isn't giving us
license to go around and tell everyone we know all the grievances we
have against them or all the things they do that annoy us. We aren't
supposed to go around with spyglasses and keep surveillance on each
other. God is talking about lovingly helping those around us to turn
away from sin and follow the Gospels more closely.
In the first
reading today, Ezekiel is passing along God's instructions to him.
As a prophet, God wants him to be a watchman for the people and to
pass on warnings and instructions from God. If God tells him to
dissuade people from their evil ways, then he needs to do it. If he
doesn't and the person dies by his own guilt, God is going to hold
him, Ezekiel, responsible. But if he does warn the sinful person and
they don't listen, that person will still be punished, but Ezekiel
will have done his job and be rewarded for it.
Now, not
everyone is called to be a prophet, so we are not all held to the
same accountability as Ezekiel was. That being said, we are still
called to keep each other accountable. So if we notice our brother
or sister sinning in some way, we ought to find an appropriate way to
help them. For instance, if we notice someone is spreading gossip or
false rumors about another person, instead of getting angry with them
or embarrassing them in some way, perhaps we encourage them to talk
about something more positive or politely remind them that spreading
false rumors is bearing false witness against our neighbor.
Jesus tells
us more in the Gospel for today. “If your brother sins
against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”
Notice it just starts out as very simple: one person to another. The
goal is not to embarrass anyone or shame with guilt. If you brought
in a large group right away to accuse one person, they're not going
to take it very well. Instead, God says to start out with one on
one. If that doesn't work, bring in one or two more, if that doesn't
work, talk to the Church.
This is not about forcing each other to do these
things as quickly as possible, like it's a race. It isn't about
embarrassing anyone or making them feel awful. This is about guiding
our brothers and sisters with love towards holiness. When we guide
each other we are more likely to pray with each other. And when we
pray together, there God will be in our midst.
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