A number of years ago I was on the board of a new school serving young people from the inner city. In the course of several board meetings a conversation developed about keeping the school financially viable or producing a curriculum which would truly serve the students. To many board members it seemed the goals were mutually exclusive. After each such discussion, I would ask, is this really an either/or proposition? Why can’t it be both/and? Thank goodness, the conversation did turn to the latter approach and the school has gone on to serve its students wonderfully.
It seems to me Jesus is saying the same thing in today’s gospel. He has not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. It is not either/or; it is both/and. There is deep truth in the law and in the prophets. Jesus comes to make those truths even deeper and richer to feed our souls.
How often do we approach other traditions or people thinking it is either/or rather than taking the opportunity to see the beauty and truth of that tradition or person, even though they are different and unfamiliar? Will not our lives be so much richer if we can see and appreciate the beauty and truth which other people and traditions bring to the world?
What can I do today to honor someone else’s truth or tradition?
—David McNulty is the Provincial Assistant for Advancement, Chicago-Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus