Search

Results

Homily stories

04 Nov 2012 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Like the people in Jesus’ time, we have heard the commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength many times. The question is: “What does that mean exactly?” In the midst of commuting to and from work, working, preparing meals, raking the lawn, putting up storm windows (if anyone does that anymore), what would our lives look like if we were even partially successful at following this commandment? It turns out that the answer is in the second commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Or, as the Jesuit scientist Father Teilhard de Chardin put it, “The way we treat people is the way we treat God.” We love God by loving others. This fall, author Lois Lowry published a book titled Son, the last in The Giver Quartet series. The story is about a boy who has a magical talent called the “veer,” which allows him to see the world through another person’s perspective and feel what they feel. Luckily for us, “veer” is not really a magical talent. It’s another word for the very human power of empathy, and something we all have. Magic happens when we use it.

Authors Ann O'Connor

empathy love your neighbor Teilhard de Chardin Commandments

Restricted
Empathize with the not-so-lowly rat

18 Dec 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist sings of the goodness of the Lord this Sunday, highlighting the fact that God will “forever” act with kindness toward the people. An elegantly simple lab experiment strongly suggests the oft-maligned rat is capable of acting with empathy. Given the opportunity, a rat freed and shared food with another rat that had been uncomfortably caged. At the very least, the new experiment, reported in the journal Science, is going to make people think differently about what it means to be a “rat.” Eventually, though, it also may tell us interesting things about what it means to be a human being, scientists said. Researchers at the University of Chicago sought to find out whether, given the chance, a rat would release a fellow rat from an unpleasantly restrictive cage if it could. The answer was yes. The free rat, occasionally hearing distress calls from its compatriot, learned to open the cage and did so with greater efficiency over time. It would release the other animal even if there wasn’t the payoff of a reunion with it. Astonishingly, if given access to a small hoard of chocolate chips, the free rat would usually save at least one treat for the captive--which is a lot to expect of a rat, said the researchers. They came to the unavoidable conclusion that what they were seeing was empathy. “There is nothing in it for them except for whatever feeling they get from helping another individual,” said Peggy Mason, the neurobiologist who conducted the experiment. The idea that animals have emotional lives and are capable of detecting emotions in others has been gaining ground for decades. But empathy that leads to helping activity--what psychologists term “pro-social behavior”--hasn’t been formally shown in non-primates until now. “The study is truly groundbreaking,” said Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University who has written extensively about empathy. What is particularly interesting, he said, is there appears to be no clear cost-benefit trade-off going on. “We are entering a distinctly psychological realm of emotions and reactions to the emotions of others, which is where most human altruism finds its motivation.” Source: An article by David Brown for the Washington Post

empathy frans de waal peggy mason rats

Restricted
Homily stories

31 Oct 2021 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Like the people in Jesus’ time, we have heard the commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength many times. The question is: “What does that mean exactly?” In the midst of commuting to and from work, working, preparing meals, raking the lawn, putting up storm windows (if anyone does that anymore), what would our lives look like if we were even partially successful at following this commandment? It turns out that the answer is in the Second Commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Or, as the Jesuit scientist Father Teilhard de Chardin put it, “The way we treat people is the way we treat God.” We love God by loving others. Lois Lowry published a book titled Son, the last in The Giver Quartet series. The story is about a boy who has a magical talent called the “veer,” which allows him to see the world through another person’s perspective and feel what they feel. Luckily for us, “veer” is not really a magical talent. It’s another word for the very human power of empathy, and something we all have. Magic happens when we use it.

Authors Ann O'Connor

empathy

Restricted
Homily stories

09 Jul 2023 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

When Jesus speaks of things that are "hidden from those who are wise," he may have been referring to the fact that we often jump to conclusions based on what we think is happening, without really knowing at all—especially in an unsettling situation. I recently had such an experience. While in a hurry the other day running a quick errand to the pet store, I almost hit a loose bulldog in the parking lot that was being chased by a frantic elderly woman. I jumped out and started chasing him too. I’m a cat person and know nothing about how to catch dogs. Luckily a dog person jumped out of her car and got him to come to her. She yelled at the woman, “Why isn’t that dog on a leash?!” “He’s not my dog!” the older lady yelled back. “He’s my daughter’s. She’s leaving an abusive relationship right now and I grabbed him. I’m here to get a harness and I don’t know what size so I was trying to put him in a shopping cart to bring him inside.” The woman apologized and heaved the dog into a shopping cart for her. We didn’t know what to say, but the two of us accompanied this gasping, distraught mother inside and helped her pick out a harness and other things the dog needed. The awfulness of some situations doesn’t go away, but easing the suffering endures too.

Authors Jennifer Tomshack

understanding empathy jumping to conclusions

Restricted
Homily stories

03 Nov 2024 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Like the people in Jesus’ time, we have heard the Commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength many times. The question is: “What does that mean exactly?” In the midst of commuting to and from work, working, preparing meals, raking the lawn, putting up storm windows (if anyone does that anymore), what would our lives look like if we were even partially successful at following this Commandment? It turns out that the answer is in the Second Commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Or, as the Jesuit scientist Father Teilhard de Chardin put it, “The way we treat people is the way we treat God.” We love God by loving others. In the book Son, the last in Lois Lowry's The Giver Quartet, a boy who has a magical talent called the “veer” can see the world through another person’s perspective and feel what they feel. Luckily for us, “veer” is not really a magical talent. It’s another word for the very human power of empathy, and something we all have. Magic happens when we use it.

Authors Ann O'Connor

empathy love your neighbor

Restricted