"The biblical mandate is clear: we must strive to live at peace with all human beings. We must approach those with whom we disagree with gentleness and reverence; we must show honor to all of God's human creatures. There is a nice story I once heard a priest tell about Pope John XXIII when he was still an Italian cardinal. He was having dinner one night with a priestly assistant who was reporting to the cardinal about another priest, a real renegade, who was doing things that were embarrassing the hierarchy. The future pope listened calmly, sipping wine from a goblet.
"Finally the assistant cried out in a frustrated tone, 'How can you take this so calmly? Don't you realize what this priest is doing?'
"The cardinal then gently asked the younger priest, 'Father, whose goblet is this?'
" 'It is yours, your grace,' the priest answered.
"The cardinal then threw the goblet to the floor, and it shattered into many fragments. 'And now whose goblet is it?' he asked.
" 'It is still yours,' was the answer.
' 'And so is this priest still my brother in Christ,' said the cardinal, 'even though he is shattered and broken.'
"God created all human beings. Even the shattered and broken ones are still his original works of art. We must engage in the spiritual exercise of seeing others as God sees them, of appreciating others – even in their brokenness."
