DD EXPRESS (Vol.1, Issue 2, January 2021)

The encyclical Fratelli Tutti begins by stating that there are dark clouds everywhere. The whole world is suffering in all aspects. The cruelty of the human race is undeniable. We live on a planet in which the right to life has been infringed. The world is gripped by natural disasters. Yet in all these, there is hope!Hope is what makes life worthwhile despite all these life-threatening events. The Holy Father talks about a stranger. Who is this stranger? This stranger is one whom we have never met in our lifetime. Yet they need our help. We are all called to be helpers to one another. Further, this stranger is not only the one whom we don’t know but the one who is abandoned. They communicate with us even if they are not able to speak to us directly. The human person is limited but we are not limited when it comes to taking care of the stranger, abandoned by society. Lovewould call us to move beyondour small world. How would we put love in action? We put into practice this value by sharing whatever we have with others. Going beyond our limitedness would signify our openness to others. When we open ourselves to others, there would be no “others,” no “them” but only “us.” Hence, life would spring forthfrom such an existence. When we refer to the “other” as “them,” we are creating barriers. Fraternity would call for acceptance of one another as our brothers and sisters. With acceptance comes joy and with joy comes love and with love comes transformation. The fact that God is our Father should be the unifying factor in our differences. The major cause for disunity in this world is that people have failed to acknowledge the fact that God is their Father and that they are his children. God created us all in his image and likeness.Therefore, it is of no avail for us to make comparisons as to who is the better or the best. All of us are unique or irreplaceablein the sight of God. This is the basis of the dignity and worth of the human person.

As humans, we not only have duties to love but rights as well. Human rights are universal and inalienable and therefore cannot be sacrificed. It has its base in the Biblical teaching; that all humans are created in the image and likeness of God. This teaching conveys the unity of the human species as well as

The Good Samaritan

., the worth of every human person. The Hebrew tradition has gifted the West with justice, mercy, and truth among other values. This encyclical is a humanistic encyclicalthat is deeply rooted in the Gospel of love, relationship, fraternity, and social friendship. Andy Warhol says, time changes things, but you have to change them yourself and Mahatma Gandhi says that we must become the change we want to see. The Holy Father through this encyclical speaks of change. He opines that change is what is needed so that we might be able to treat one another as brothers and sisters. This would call for a change in our attitude towards our brothers and sisters. Growth comes about only when there is change. It is only when the seed falls to the groundthat a plant comes out. The seed falling to the ground would signify change and the plant that comes out would signify a better world. Are we willing to fall to the ground sometimes to bring about change in society? We are all like the stranger on the road needing help. It is the love of the Good Samaritan that healed the stranger on the road.

It is this love that enables us to create one great family, where all of us can feel at home and thus resolve all our conflicts. In love is truly seeing, and caring, about another human being’s existence and welfare. Love is wanting to be there for someone, supporting and helping someone grow. It is to make a difference in someone’s life; to share in and care about someone else’s happiness and struggles. The Holy Father speaks of fraternity and social friendship. This friendship is defined as a concern for the sake of the other and therefore involves a certain degree of intimacy. It is being there for the person and caring for the person. When we care for the other, society is shaped. We speak of change in society. How can we bring about change in society unless we don’t take simple steps of being a friend to one another? The Holy Father however mentions certain things that prevent universal love.These include despair and discouragement, polarization at all levels, sacrifices done for vested interests, inequality of rights, and the weakening of spiritual values. All these are the results of a selfish love. To conclude, we need to ask the following questionsfor reflection:  Who are the strangers that we meet in our life?  Do we respect, accept, recognize and love every human person equal in dignity, rights, and duties and hence love every human being without borders? My humble prayer and wish for all of us is that we recognize Christ in the discarded, the excluded, and be close to them. They are human beings and precious children of God. They are our brothers and sisters and we need to care for them to build a world of human fraternity. Cl. Kajiche Moses Moshihorii sdb