Yet in my walks it seems to me
That the Grace of God is in Courtesy."




Courtesy - or the lack of it - is a sign of the times. The dictionary gives as synonyms: deference, respect, consideration, graciousness, politeness. The courteous person is attentive, agreeable, peaceable. The opposites of courtesy are: rudeness, inattention, uncivility, and the discourteous person is described as unsmiling, grim, churlish, unfriendly. An article in the Tablet last month had as its heading: "What we seem to be in danger of losing grasp of is the very idea of civility." If that is true, then we all need to look at our own particular response to the need for courtesy in our relations with others in this world which we all have perforce to share.

In the early days of Christianity, people said, "How these Christians love one another!" That was the impression given by the outward form of the charity which was to be the mark of Christ's disciples. Courtesy, surely; Christian courtesy, based on mutual respect and the dignity of each individual. Jesus Himself was open and fearless in his condemnation of evil, but his dealings with individuals were invariably marked by an exquisite courtesy. We have only to think of his words to the woman taken in adultery, the man born blind, Zacchaeus, The Apostles on Easter Sunday - "Greetings" (Matt 28:9), to Mary Magdalen in the garden, to Peter by the lakeside. Did he, perhaps, learn some of this courtesy, humanly speaking, at he Mother's knee? It was she who said to Bernadette Soubirous, "Will you do me the favour of coming here every day for a fortnight?" and to the little shepherds of Fatima: "I came to ask you to come here for six consecutive months." Gentle requests both times, not peremptory commands. Courtesy.

These are many challenges for us all in this era of New Evangelization, but there is one which can be taken up by everyone, old and young, active or retired, sick or well, and that is the effort to treat all people - family, community, friends, colleagues, those with whom we have contact in shops and public transport, strangers, tourists, those who ask our help, with the respect and consideration which is their due and to do so pleasantly and where possible, with a smile. Everyone is important, everyone matters, everyone merits our attention, not just the interesting and exciting people. That means nobody is kept out, nobody is ignored, nobody is passed over, nobody is snubbed. A smile, a kind word, a pleasant answer to an unpleasant remark: such efforts - and they're not always easy - are surely signs that the Grace of God is at work in us, in such a way:

"That so it might be said of me

Surely thy speech betrayeth thee,
A friend of Christ of Galilee."