Sometimes in listening to people I will interrupt them with the somewhat unusual remark ‘You know, what was said to you is a curse.’  They usually understand right away.  When we are growing up and an authority figure—parent, member of the clergy, teacher or coach—says something harsh and definitive about us, that judgment often has the power to divert a life into unhappy shoals.

‘You will never amount to anything!’ or ‘Of all the kids in this class, you the dumbest!’  or words to that effect can brand a developing human being, becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.  That is why praise, truthful and ardent, is such a powerful blessing in the lives of children, teens and young adults.

Listen to the words of God as Jesus emerges from the Jordan River: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’  What an extraordinary introduction to His child the Father makes!  And how often, after being called a ‘drunk’ or ‘friend of prostitutes’ or ‘possessed by demons’ by the authority figures of His time, these words must have consoled the heart of Jesus.  The exact opposite of a curse, the blessing energizes and inflames with love its recipient.

This past week the first black woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm, died.  I remember her [and her big hair] very well; I hadn’t read or thought about her much until I read her obituary.

Included in the story of her life is an account of her meeting with her opponent in the race for the Presidency in 1972, George Wallace.  To those of us who came of age in the 60s and 70s, there were few people for whom there was a greater distain because of Wallace’s unmitigated passion for racial segregation.  The snarl that appeared on his face when he spoke didn’t help much either…

As everyone knows, someone shot him—and Shirley Chisholm visited Wallace in the hospital, an act, the papers say, ‘that appalled her followers.’  As Chisholm told it, “He said, ‘What are your people going to say? I said: ‘I know what they’re going to say.  But I wouldn’t want what happened to you to happen to anyone.’  He cried and cried.”

Wallace was to be paralyzed until he died but I think it is fair to say that he went through an interior change, losing a lot of his bigotry and aggression. I would not be surprised if Chisholm’s act of kindness wasn’t part of that transformation, maybe its beginning.

How did she do it?  If we take the Gospel today as a guide, I suspect it was because there were significant people in Shirley Chisholm’s life who convinced her by their praise, encouragement, and blessing that she was a worthy individual, capable of wonderful acts of courage and selflessness.

A sense that we are God’s beloved children is a baptismal birthright that all of us need to know we have now.  As St. John says in his First Letter, ‘Beloved, we are God’s children now.’  The more we hear and believe that the better people we will be.

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Once again, on behalf of the parish, I want to thank all the people who made our celebration of Christmas & the Epiphany such a beautiful, melodious, delicious, generous and warm celebration. All of us are especially grateful for those who work behind the scenes during these feasts.  As the Italians say, MIL GRAZIE!!!