Susceptible to Stereotypes

Learning to love unconditionally like Christ

8/29/21

Mk 7:1-8, 21-23 When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. —For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

We are all susceptible to stereotypes of people, that is, generalizations about groups that are generally unhelpful, and often offensive. Consider this humorous example. A man traveled to the Holy Land for vacation with his wife and mother-in-law. During their time in Jerusalem the mother-in-law died. With the death certificate in hand, the man went to the U.S. consulate to make arrangements for a proper burial. The consul explained that taking the body back to the U.S. was very expensive, costing as much as $50,000. The consul also added that in many cases people buried their loved ones in Jerusalem, which cost around $5,000.

The man answered: “I do not care what it costs, but we want to send her body back to the U.S.” The consul responded: “You must have loved your mother-in-law very much considering that cost.” The man explained: “No, it’s not that. I heard of a case 2,000 years ago of a man who was buried here and 3 days later he rose from the dead. I just cannot take that chance.” So, my apologies to all you mother-in-laws for that joke, but you see how we are all susceptible to stereotypes.

In the gospel today, Jesus reprimands the scribes and Pharisees for being especially susceptible to stereotypes in the form of human traditions. In other words, stereotypes are man-made concepts (like making fun of mother-in-laws), whereas the truth about each person is a God-made concept (like being created in God’s image and likeness). Jesus criticizes them by saying: “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Indeed, the Pharisees funniest stereotype in the end turned out to be about themselves, namely, that the Jews alone were the Chosen People, who believed they alone would be saved, and that God loved them exclusively. In a sense, the joke was on the Jews. How so? Well, because God loves all his children, since each person has been created in God’s image and likeness and has been chosen from all eternity by him. Jesus came to teach us we are all God's Chosen People. Still, we are all susceptible to stereotypes, and sometimes we even stereotype ourselves, when we think God loves us more than everyone else.

My friends, take time today to think about any stereotypes you may be susceptible to. And then ask God for the grace not to “set aside God’s commandment and cling to human traditions.” These stereotypes are the worst human traditions. I recently received a message from a parishioner asking how much he has to love Muslims. His question was no doubt sparked by the tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan. Sometimes we stereotype Muslims and that makes it harder to love them and pray for them. In other words, we need to pray not only for the Americans who are left behind, but for that nation as a whole that they might enjoy freedom, justice and peace.

Are you susceptible to stereotypes of persons with different sexual orientations, the LGBTQ community?  Do human traditions trick us into setting aside God’s commandment and forget we are all created in God’s image and likeness? Perhaps you look suspiciously at the poor and put them all into a stereotypical bag. We may think: “Poor people are all lazy and do not want to work.” How about people from the North or big cities? It can be very easy to turn up our noses and make jokes about those “Darn Yankees.” Do we stereotype people who take the COVID vaccine or those who do not take the vaccine and make fun of them?

We can be susceptible to stereotypes of people from other countries who come to the United States. Have you ever walked into Mass and seen an Indian priest at the pulpit and worried, “Oh, no, he’s going to talk in an Indian accent and I won’t understand a word of his homily!” But you are now listening to a priest who is in fact from India and who speaks in crystal clear English, and maybe even with a hint of a Southern twang. Whenever we give in to our stereotypes we behave like the Pharisees who “disregard God’s commandment and cling to human traditions.” Stereotypes are the worst kind of human traditions.

May I return for a minute to the joke I made earlier about the mother-in-law? Do you know who our spiritual mother-in-law is? Using the analogy of faith, Jesus is not only our Savior but also our Spouse. Why is that? Well, because we, as the Church, are the “Bride of Christ.” Well, if we are the Bride and Jesus is the Bridegroom, then who becomes our mother-in-law? You guessed it: the Blessed Virgin Mary. When we make fun of mother-in-laws, in a sense, we likewise make fun of Mother Mary. So, be careful in being susceptible to stereotypes, and making fun of others, because in the end, the joke may be on us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!