Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

I hope that I don’t sound like an old curmudgeon, but it seems I went to school back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth! I know that some say that dinosaurs and human beings never coexisted, but it sounds good. Besides, what do you do with those old movies like “One Million B.C.”?

In my grammar school, the sisters prepared a well-defined curriculum. In seventh and eighth grade, we would have four days of religion, but on Fridays, we would have a class on Christian courtesy. As a young boy, I would think, “what a waste of time.” Everything in this class was just going to be a rehash of what our parents taught us at home. Of course, the sisters emphasized that courtesy was a sign of respect for God’s greatest creation – man and woman – and Jesus elevated that dignity by becoming one with us. Therefore, it was extremely important that we reflected this in our behavior toward others: respect for God and neighbor. Our actions said something about our appreciation for others and ourselves.

Today, I would like to propose that all schools reinstitute Christian courtesy or civic (civil) courtesy. It seems to me that simple manners have been lost. How many of us fail to hold a door open for someone struggling to enter a store or a restaurant? When was the last time you saw someone offer their seat on public transportation to an elderly person or a pregnant woman? I am sure that most of us have experienced people cutting in line or jumping to the front because they feel their time was more important than yours. Of course, the terms “sir” and “ma’am” have all but been lost to the common vocabulary for decades. They have disappeared along with words like “please,” “thank you” or “you’re welcome.” It is now almost a shock for someone to be polite.

We could blame this phenomenon on the loss of the sacred, the destruction of family life or even a lack of simple humanity. It is an obvious fact that if I don’t respect others, how can I expect others to respect me? With our increasing technological society, human contact may diminish. Maybe it’s time to teach how one expresses respect through actions. Therefore, it’s very important that we know how to act when we encounter someone in the flesh. We do know that Christ would want us to treat each other with respect as brothers and sisters and, PLEASE, LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Note: This blog originally appeared as the December 2, 2014 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.