Sunday Reflection with Fr Paul O'Reilly SJ - 13 May 2012

"What I command you is to love one another."

When I was at College, I had a friend Peter who is a good Catholic and he shared a house with a Muslim called Abdul. They were both very religious people, each in his own way but, despite their differences, they got on very well. And it wasn't until they had been staying together about six weeks that they had a really big argument about religion. Neither of them can remember exactly what it was about, but it seemed really important at the time. Tempers became heated, voices were raised and Holy Books were produced, more or less in that order. My friend quoted from the Holy Bible - the Catholic version of course - to strengthen his argument. Abdul quoted - at some length - from the Holy Quran - in the original Arabic, of course, which contributed greatly to mutual understanding. And they were just at the stage of getting really angry with one another.

My friend Peter made an angry gesture with his hand and accidentally knocked his Bible off the table. Instantly, Abdul threw himself full-length across the floor to catch the Bible just before it hit the ground. And he held it up and placed it reverently back on the table. And then he sat back down again, ready to renew the argument.

Quite suddenly, Peter didn't really feel like arguing any more. Because in that instant - in that one action - Abdul had shown such respect for him and for what he believed. As a faithful Muslim, he would never allow the Quran to be put on the floor and he gave the same respect to the Holy Book of his friend. It was a precious moment for them both.

I think that is just one symbol of the attitude Jesus asks of us - to see that, whatever our differences, however deeply they are held, however much we know ourselves to be in the right. Our hope as a community does not come from being right; it comes for being One with God and with one another.

And it is what I think Jesus is talking about. We often meet people with whom we have religious differences - people of different Christian denominations; people of different faiths or none. And the differences we have with them are serious and important. They really do matter. They are the Truths by which we hope to live our lives. But ultimately what people believe matters less than who they are. We are all children of God. Our Creator has made each and every one of us in His own image and likeness. And in each and every one of us, we must come to love and reverence the image of our Creator. Even - perhaps especially - when we think they are completely wrong in what they believe.

Fr Paul O'Reilly is a Jesuit priest. He is also a medical doctor, working with homeless patients at the Dr Hickey Surgery, in Arneway Street, Victoria, central London.