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SAVINGRACE
Guest
:clapping::clapping::yup::yup:From Father James Martin, SJ:
This is religious stereotyping at its worst, and should be rejected by every Catholic, indeed every Christian. For Jesus asks us in the clearest terms possible to care for the stranger: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Mt. 25:35).
Even when it is difficult. Remember: in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the man who stops to help had no idea if the the robbers who had beaten the man by the side of the road were still lying in wait. (Lk 10:25-37). And the point of that particular story is particularly apt in this case. Jesus had been asked, “Who is my neighbor?” The answer, which surprised his Jewish audience, was, “A Samaritan,” a member of a hated religious group. Jesus’s message could not be any clearer. When it comes to the Christian path, there is no “other.” There is just an “us.”
American Catholics in particular should reject this kind of ugly stereotyping because they themselves–we ourselves–were subjected to this precise kind of stereotyping in past centuries. We were the “Catholic menace,” dangerous because we were controlled by Rome, unfit to be considered good citizens.
Whether done to Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims (or any other religious group) blaming an entire religion for the sins of a few who claim the label of that religion is always wrong. And sinful.