Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Thoughts for the Week - Fr. R. Taouk 
8th July 2018

Courtesy and the Grace of God by Br. G.C. Davy

"They must be considerate and lose no opportunity of showing courtesy to the world around them" St. Paul.

One of the most impressive aspects of the conduct of Bernadette Soubirous when Our Lady appeared to her at Lourdes in 1858 was the peasant girl's perfect dignity and poise. One observer, well-practiced in the social graces, declared that he had never seen such a graceful and respectful bow as Bernadette made to Our Lady. Bernadette came from a very poor family living at the time in a disused jail. She was by no means a bright child and had received little education. How then did she acquire this exquisite grace of manner? It is not hard to see that it was one of the external signs of the grace of God in her heart.

If true politeness comes from the heart, we must look for gracious manners in one who possesses in his heart the sanctifying and transforming grace of God. However, the indwelling of that Grace will not show itself in courteous behaviour if we allow self-interest to govern our dealings with others. If we fail in courtesy, our offence is nearly always one of selfishness, for, as we have seen, selfishness is politeness in reverse.

Another lesson to be learnt from the gracious meeting of the Queen of Heaven with the peasant girl of Lourdes is that arrogance or snobbery should have no place in our dealings with others. What a contrast there is between the genuine courtesy shown in the apparitions and the conduct of those who, lacking the beautiful and precious grace of God, seek a poor substitute in the superficial graces of speech, dress and deportment!

All of us, as Catholics, are united with Christ, the source of all grace. We should therefore be conspicuous examples of Christian courtesy. Listen to the words of Rev. Fr. Richard Rooney S.J.: "Whatever we may say of others, it is certainly true that Catholics should be the most courteous of men and women. After all, it is their life's work to reproduce the courtesy of Christ, the world's most courteous man. If they will treat others as Christ would treat them were He here in person, if they will treat others with the courtesy they would accord to Christ Himself were He there in these others' stead, then so much that is fine and loving and lovable would come to life again". If only we would realise in practice the beautiful ideals expressed in these words, then what is so glibly termed "graceful living" would become in a very real sense "grace-full living".

We need to look no further than the words of Our Lord to find a perfect definition of courtesy. When He gave us the Golden Rule to "do unto others as you would that they should do to you" He at the same time laid down the principle of true politeness - a principle of supernatural charity. If we have charity, we will have at least the spirit of true Christian courtesy. That spirit will dispose us to acquire the external graces of manner that go with courtesy.