“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12

This statement to treat others the way we would like them to treat us is commonly referred to as the Golden Rule.   It sounds simple enough at first glance but let’s consider what gets in the way from us fulfilling it.

Let’s start by reflecting on forgiveness and judgment.

When we do something wrong, it is natural to want to be forgiven, but do we forgive others in the same way that we want to be forgiven?

This is the teaching of Our Lord Jesus: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

How often have you seen people’s reputations hurt by malicious gossip?

None of us would want our reputations negatively impacted by slanderous comments. So if we live by the Golden Rule, we should never be guilty of saying things that could hurt others. In the quest for power and upward career mobility, I have seen people maligned by the comments of power-hungry people many, many times. In fact, I recall being the target of people who wanted my position. The people that wanted to replace me criticized my performance. Meanwhile my superiors gave me top ratings.

So what was really going on?

People were trying to motivate a corporate reorganization.  Another division was criticizing my performance and my team’s performance in order to eliminate us and take over our mandate so that they could have more power, budget and authority.

This is a career strategy that I saw people use to bolster their own success and upward mobility and it amounts to “do unto others what you would NOT want them to do to you.”

If we want to live by the Golden Rule we have to be very conscious of what we say and why.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth and it will guide us to say what is truthful and just if we remain in communion with God.

“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:6

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

All of us would like to be treated with compassion.

Compassion is all about trying to understand and show sympathy for another person’s suffering. With Christmas around the corner, we should remember families that are unable to provide what they would like for their families. If we could not afford for example to buy our children a gift for Christmas many of us would value being given some presents we could put under the tree for our children or given food baskets that would allow us to prepare a special meal.

Do to others what you would have them do to you?

Recently I stumbled on a video of a severely abused little girl speaking with her psychologist.  She was telling her doctor that she wanted to kill her adoptive parents and brother.  She tried to harm her little brother and she had taken knives from the kitchen to try to stab her parents. She had to be removed from her adoptive family because of the violent threat she represented to them. She was sent to facility that specialized in the care of severely traumatized, abused children.  Her adoptive parents did for her what they would have wanted done for themselves. The little girl’s story has a happy ending. Because of the compassion and care she received she grew up to live a nonviolent life.

Many stories of abused children do not have such happy endings. Sometimes neglect, abuse and violence in early childhood leads to more child abuse and violence later on in life. Such is the case of one young man who was defined by social workers as one of the most horribly sexually abused child they had ever tried to treat. He went on to rape and kill a young woman in my community. The parents of the young woman, Christians, forgave him; they would not deny him the forgiveness they wanted from God for their sins.  The man who raped and killed their daughter is now in prison.

Do unto others what you would have them do unto you?

God calls us to be grateful for what we have.   Sometimes we don’t appreciate how privileged we are to grow up in families with faith, protected and loved by our parents. How many crimes might be avoided if children were better cared for, nurtured and protected as little children?

Consider crime families. What are the odds that children born to drug dealers for example will be law-abiding citizens?

If you were a child born into a crime family what would you want someone to do for you? What if you were born into a family that taught you that you were destined to become a suicide bomber, what would you want someone to do for you?

If I was born into a crime family, I would want someone to be praying for me! If someone was trying to convince me to become a suicide bomber, I would want someone to be praying that God’s truth be made known to me.

So because I would want someone to do this for me, I choose to do it for them. I am always a little surprised when I go to Mass and we get to the “Prayers of the Faithful” that we are not praying for criminals, terrorists, murders etc. If we want to stop crime, violence, terror and war, shouldn’t we praying for the most violent criminals?

Jesus tells us “Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you.” Matthew 5:44

It’s tempting to think of ourselves as better than others, but I think any of us could be very different if we were born into different families, into a different part of the world.

Here’s some words from Thomas Kempis to motivate a humble, prayerful disposition:

“Always think kindly of others, while holding yourself as nothing; this is true wisdom and leads to perfection. If you see another commit a grievous sin, or whose faults are flagrant, do not regard yourself as better, for you do not know what you would do if similarly tempted.” From the Book, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis

Divine intervention can change the course of our life and the course of our world.  My prayers that a suicide bomber understand that God does NOT will for Him to kill cannot be heard if I don’t first pray the prayer. Let’s believe in the infinite power of prayer to help those in desperate circumstances. With boldness and confidence in the love that Our Lord Jesus has for us, let us go to Him to pray for His mercy upon all souls.

Every day at the time Our Lord Jesus died for us, 3pm (in our local time zones), let’s stop to remember His Passion. Let’s see Jesus being crucified for our salvation and let’s pray, let’s call upon the infinite love of Our God to help save souls. Let’s pray for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Compassion and Mercy to be poured out upon our suffering world. We call this movement to unite Christians at the Hour of Mercy in prayer and contemplation of the Lord’s Passion, The Mercy Movement

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

If you were in great need of God’s mercy, would you not want someone praying for you?

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12