Putting Each Other at the Center

No matter how much they might deny it, people love to talk about themselves. As a culture, we are pretty obsessed with ourselves; if you spend a few minutes scrolling through different social media platforms, it's pretty clear that genuine humility is rare these days. We are now treading in the dangerous waters of the ideology that "it's all about me and what will make me feel good right now." While it would be so easy to go with the flow and embrace the selfie game 24/7, it might be worth it to explore how we can change this trend rather than promote it. Everyday, "there is an increase in the number of men and women who are conscious that they themselves are the authors and the artisans of the culture of their community" (GS 55). We have the power to change the norms of our culture, and the church provides us with the perfect forum to do so. If instead of being so immersed in ourselves and we used our energy to get to know and understand "the other," I'm certain "the other" wouldn't be such a scary concept. 

The Catholic Church, by its universal nature, serves as a kind of meeting point for peoples and cultures across the globe. The church as an institution is much older than most countries, so it most certainly has some experience and authority when it comes to bringing people together. Also, people across the world of different races, genders, and experiences can all come together under the common belief in Christ. Therefore, the church and her people have the super unique role of fostering community and peace across borders, both real and imagined. 

If we are going to take advantage of the church as a center of cross cultural dialogue and understanding, we're going to collectively need to rise above the idea that we as individuals are the most important people in the world at any given time. In order to truly come together and embrace the similarities and differences that we all have, we must shift our focus outside of ourselves and focus on what we can learn from the other. As Gaudium et Spes beautifully expresses, "we are witnesses of the birth of a new humanism, one in which man is defined first of all by this responsibility to his brothers and to history." If we accept the responsibility to raise each other up, who knows how much good we can achieve and how much hate we can abandon. 

As I have expressed before, we write not only our own stories but the stories of those around us. It would be truly wonderful if we were putting as much effort into making the stories of our brothers and sisters as great as we would want our own to be. The stories we leave behind are our legacy as a people, and it is on us to decide what we want that legacy to look like.