We live in a country that values achievement and success. In trying to be successful sometimes, our weaknesses come out and expose us to the world. In this Sunday’s readings St. Paul says, “Through the power of Christ we are perfect in our moments of weakness.” When we try to ignore our weakness and overshadow them with our strengths, we are ignoring how God made us. Some of my weaknesses are that I am very impatient, quick to judge, and have trust issues
Not too long ago I had new neighbors that moved across the street from me. They were a different demographic from the typical families living in my neighborhood. I judged because they were tossing trash on the side of the street and people were a lot of people going in and out of the house. I was worried that the wrong kind of people were going to start moving in our area and felt I had to put my guard up. Fast forward ahead two days. I was out mowing the grass and one of the neighbors actually approached me. It was actually the mother of one of the new neighbors. She introduced herself (as Tori) and talked about my new neighbors who were a husband and wife and expecting a new baby. Tori asked about the area and if they were responsible for mowing the grass on the curb of 12 mile. She was asking such innocent questions and even asked about the previous homeowner. Come to find out that the trash was from the previous owner (who had never eve introduced themselves). After meeting Tori, I had the opportunity to meet my new neighbors and their new baby.
Judging these neighbors was not one of my prouder moments. I let my pride and previous history with people blind my Christian morals and judgment. In the Gospel, the people that are listening to Jesus are amazed by his teaching and gifts. I felt the same about my neighbors and am glad that I got to know them.
Jesus is calling us to treat everyone the same as ourselves with honor and dignity. Even when we have a weakness we need to embrace that because that is how we were created. It is good to shoot for greatness, but also be ok to fall short sometimes. Christ will always get us through.
