As we settle back into Ordinary Time in our liturgical calendar, it strikes me as a more challenging task this time around. It’s not hard to see that there nothing ordinary about “Ordinary Time” at this point in 2026. While the Scripture readings and the green vestments have the familiar cadence and tone during this brief season between the end of the Christmas season and the start of Lent next month, what we are facing in the country and our world on a daily basis feels extraordinary, and often tinged with evil. As I talk to people regularly in spiritual direction and on retreats, it’s clear I’m not alone in feeling that way. It feels as though evil is winning, but that is exactly what evil wants us to believe.
The Gospel is a radical roadmap built on love. There are no two ways around that. Jesus used parables and direct teachings to tell us without any shadow of a doubt that the way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus. “Whatsoever you do…” We know it like we know our own names. It is the code that we Christians are called to live by. And yet we can look at what’s happening on the streets of our own country and in war-torn areas of our world and see that it has all but gone by the wayside. For a long time, it was in vogue to ask, “What would Jesus do?” It seems cliché and silly to suggest we bring back that seemingly trite meme, but it gets the job done.
In every situation we are seeing unfold around us, we can ask ourselves that question: “What would Jesus do?” Would he shoot a mother in the head at point-blank range three times simply for attempting to flee when confronted by masked, armed men trying to force her from her car? Would he blind a boy with a “nonlethal rounds” for holding a megaphone and exercising his First Amendment right to free speech? Would he take a mother who’s been peacefully living and working in this country for 20 years away from her dying 15-year-old son and put her in detention so that she cannot say her final goodbye? If we answer yes to any of those questions, or so many others that could, sadly, be listed here today, we are not following the teachings of Jesus Christ. We are not even close.
Many of us like to say the prayer attributed to St. Francis with its beautiful words of peace and love. That prayer, like the Gospel, is meant to be the rule we live by. Today, when violence is becoming the norm in our once-peaceful country, it’s a good idea to go back to that popular prayer and check it against our actions. “Make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy…”
Are we bearers of love or hate? Do we see someone with different opinions, different ethnic backgrounds or skin color, and see the “other,” or do we see Jesus? Saint Teresa of Calcutta famously said, “Love Jesus under the appearance of Bread and serve Him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.” We cannot receive Jesus in the Eucharist and turn him away (or harm him) when we meet him on the street, at a protest, in an immigration center, at the border, in a homeless shelter.
Jesus was clear: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Mt 7:12)
The world is a harsh place these days, but the world is often a harsh place. If we’ve not experienced that yet, we have a lot to be thankful for. Evil always tries to get a foothold, age after age. We need only look at Jesus’ crucifixion to see how evil can turn good people into heartless killers. But evil’s end game is to make us lose hope, because when we despair, evil wins.
Jesus’ followers despaired for a time but quickly regained their sense of hope, knowing that Jesus’ presence was not gone, just changed. We are called to do the same. Focus on Jesus. Keep our eyes on the One who reminds us daily, through Scripture, through Eucharist, through other people, that we are not alone and we are not lost. We have the roadmap he gave us. We just need to use it.
