We Belong T0 God—And To One Another
2022년 8월 21일We Belong T0 God—And To One Another
< Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time >
One of the worst feelings we humans inflict upon one another is when people tell us “You don’t belong here.” This can be communicated in various ways: People can say, “What are you doing here?” Or “We don’t want you here” or even by not saying anything at all but totally ignoring us as if we didn’t even exist. This happened to me just a few years ago when I accompanied a Chinese friend on a special tour of China offered to Chinese who live abroad. They all spoke English so I could at least communicate with them. Except on the very first day, a Chinese woman from Singapore said to me, “Why are you here? You don’t qualify.” I was stunned but still managed to say, “I may be white, but my money’s green.” Amazingly, she and I became friends, as I did with most of the others to the extent that by the ending of the tour they all wanted to have their picture taken with me.
Which brings us to the second point: one of the nicest feelings is when people not only welcome you but make you feel part of the family. Koreans are experts at this. Early in my Peace Corps and mission days in Taegu, Seoul and Masan, Korean friends referred to me as “형” (older brother) or “아우” (younger brother), children called me “아저씨” (uncle). Of course it came as a shock when they started calling me “할아버지” … and I was only 30! (건방진 녀석들!) But the effect was to make me feel part of the family. And this is the good news Jesus proclaimed. Aliens are to be treated as fellow countrymen and women. We are all part of God’s family now. God is our Father and we are all brothers and sisters. And Koreans have been living this good news for centuries.