Be kind

There are five obligations in the Catholic catechism. Now I have no problem with these. Some people find them helpful. But today's first reading from Ecclesiasticus 35:2-15 reminds us that we can't bribe God nor does God discriminate. We all receive the same attention, although Jesus showed us by the company he kept that God has special concern for the poor and for sinners. I remember feeling sad when a priest once said to me that the great thing about being a Catholic is that we have worked out the minimum of what God requires. All we have to do is kept to these "obligations" and God has to grant us salvation. This is like treating God like an accountant who adds up my ledger when I reach the pearly gates and determines whether I am in or out. But, as the first reading says, ordinary common courtesy is all that is required. To think that God will still reward you if you go to mass each Sunday but treat your workers like dirt is to belittle or demean God. God does not demand anything from us except that we treat others as we would like them to treat us. That is the greatness of God's love.