by Joan Mitchell, CSJ
Deserve is a loaded word. Marketers know its power. They propose to send us on a dream vacation or sell us a shiny, safer car. Who doesn’t need to relax and be safe?
Deserve is a word familiar to teachers. Students argue they deserve a better grade because they worked long and hard and did more research than ever before. What do they deserve for not doing daily assignments? What percentage of a grade? Now parents can follow online how sons and daughters are doing and weigh in on grades supportively, critically, contentiously.
In our work lives, who deserves promotions? What do I deserve if I can’t work? If I don’t work or don’t earn enough?
Occasionally an inner city Catholic school calls asking for money. Usually a parent working a low-wage job has gotten sick or had hours cut and is short on rent. Some work two and three jobs to pay the relentlessly regular costs of family life—rent, food, and utilities. These are the bills many parishes helped people pay during the pandemic.
Parish and school mission trips to Central America often give young people experiences of intense faith and difficult living standards. Students come home grateful for what they have and freshly aware of the needs of children born into poverty.
Such trips surface the question: What does every human person deserve? Food, water, shelter, clothing, education, health care…
Sunday’s gospel is about praying to God. The parable places each of us before God to express the relationship we have with Holy One. What attitude do we bring? Will our prayer ask to meet next month’s sales goals? Will it express our needs, our anxieties, our gratitude?
In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, one man prays in gratitude and one asks for mercy. What does each deserve?
- How is it any of us deserve life?
- How do I measure what I or others deserve?