Oblivious
Have you been in a store and seen a customer who moves around like they are the only one there? I think all of us probably have seen people who seem to ignore the fact that there are other people around them. They might cut others off in line or step in front of you in the aisle to get what they want off the shelf without regard to others. (This does not apply at the end of the aisles when people can’t see each other around the corner as long as one is paying attention.)
When I use the word “oblivious” I think not of those who know others are there but don’t seem to care. I’m thinking of the people who really seem oblivious to the presence of others. They might walk right through others if they could.
When people ignore others, perhaps they are just in a hurry. Or perhaps they think they are more important. It is not for me to judge. With being “oblivious”, it’s something different. I’m just not sure what.
I think of the pedestrian who walks out into the street without looking. I’m not talking about a person who forgets to look. There seems to be people who think they don’t need to look. For the record, the pedestrian has the right-of-way when they are already in the crosswalk. This does not mean they can walk into the crosswalk without looking.
So, where am I going with this? What does this have to do with faith?
The actions described above can be superficial without saying much about a person’s general attitude towards others. On the other hand, it might say something.
Do we only care about ourselves or do we care about others as much (or more) as we care about ourselves?
I recently read Kenneth Craycraft’s new book Citizens Yet Strangers: Living Authentically Catholic in a Divided America (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor. 2024). He describes the radical individualism we see in American culture and compares it to the solidarity our Catholic faith calls us to. God calls us to love our neighbor. Do we?
Or are we oblivious to others around us? Perhaps we see the needs of people around us but we think they brought it upon themselves. We might think they are too lazy to work. Here, Paul says, “In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Yes, people should be willing to work for what they eat. However, I don’t think anyone suddenly one day chooses to be too lazy to work. Something influenced their lives to think the way they do. The same may be true for people who aren’t good workers. What can we do to help them see the light?
We also have to be careful not to stereotype people. I hear people say that immigrants are no good and they should go back to where they came from. In responding to this I will first point out that unless you are a full-blooded Native American, your family immigrated here.
As to saying the immigrants are no good, some say they take jobs away from people who are already here. I think most of the immigrants in question are doing jobs most Americans don’t want to do.
Others will say the immigrants are criminals. A few are. That doesn’t mean they all are.
I encourage you to think about what brings immigrants here. Most come looking for work. What does that say about the availability of work where they are from? Others come seek asylum. What does that say about what their home country is like.
It is not easy to come here. Many come not speaking English. Last Sunday we had our monthly Spanish Mass. I do not speak Spanish. I still go. As I sat there this week, I began thinking about how I understood almost nothing of what was being said. If not for the structure of our Catholic Mass, I would have had no idea what was going on. That is what the Spanish immigrants who don’t speak English face every day yet they choose to come here seeking something better than they had in their home countries.
Think in solidarity with them. Please understand what they do is not simple. Many of these people are hard workers. We could learn something from them.
Jesus gained nothing for himself by becoming human and dying on the Cross. He didn’t do it for himself. He did it for us.
What are you willing to do for others?
Peace,
Fr. Jeff
You have made excellent points Father! I too, agree with you. We are not called to be judgmental, rather, we are called to serve. To help one another whenever we can. To show compassion for one another.
I can’t imagine giving up everything to go to a new country to start over because my own country isn’t safe or opportunities are not there any longer. Language barriers. My heart aches for them.
” Judge not, least thee be judged.”
I pray that each and everyone us will ask for God’s guidance in helping our fellow man whenever we can. “Oh, Lord, help me to follow the path you have chosen for me; whatever kindness I can show, whatever good deed I can do, help me to do it now for I shall not pass this way again.” Amen.
Thanks Carol Archunde and Fr. Jeff for your prayers and wise words about not being judgmental. I worked as a clinical social worker in Syracuse and in Penn Yan with numerous Spanish-speaking clients over the course of various years. Most of my clients were from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba and various Central American countries. My clients were working on dairy farms, in local vineyards, some in construction and as housekeepers or live-in maids in the homes of people (as some examples). Some were not able to work for psychiatric reasons. I was always surprised that (even if someone was not earning much money and still having to support themselves here), many of my clients sent significant portions of their earned income back to their home countries where important family members remained. This was not easy to do and their home countries and families depended on this income. Even with our problems here, the American economy is a lot stronger than my clients’ countries of origin mentioned above. There was more I learned from my Spanish-speaking clients, but this is what I would like to share today as this comment section is supposed to be relatively brief.