do you like mangoes?...

I still remember the day when a couple invited me to their celebration of their patron saint in Sampaloc. I agreed to go and told them to pick me up in the school campus waiting shed where I will standby and wait for them.

The couple's son, who is my eight grade student, picked me up with his mom instead. On our way to their house, we passed by a street vendor selling guavas and mangoes.

"Look, Joel! Look at those fruits!" Joel must have seen how wide eyed I had gotten about seeing those fruits in the vendor's push cart that he asked me: "Sir Albert, do you like mangoes a lot? Is that your favorite?"

Slightly embarrassed, I felt I had to tell my student the truth even if he may not believe me precisely because of the enthusiasm I displayed about the fruits on display.
I answered, "No, Joel I do not like mangoes." I am into taking my best diet pills so I don't need those fruits anymore.

Just as I thought, he was surprised to hear that answer. Disappointed, he said, "If you do not like mangoes, then why did you get excited abut seeing them?" "Well, I thought you might like the sight of really big mangoes and guavas." Laughter filled the car.

Now it was my turn. "Do you like mangoes Joel? What is your favorite fruit?" He shrugged his shoulders and said "I, too, do not go into fruits right now as I am taking my body building supplements. although I love to eat fruits and mangoes are my favorite just as I am my mama's favorite. "Isn't it that I am your favorite, mama?" His mother replied, "Yes, you are my favorite, Joel!"

I gave such a loud and amused laughter that Joel seemed contented with leaving the discussion alone on that note.

He beamed with pride as he was told he was his mama's favorite although he knew that he was not the only child in the family of five children. Joel could not care less about the guavas or mangoes for that matter. So I thought....

Honestly, is there such a thing as treating everybody equally? WE complain when our parents give more attention to our siblings than they do to us. Is treating everybody in the same way a sign of virtue?
It is not really a sign of virtue to treat everybody in the same way. Even St Paul says that he did not treat everybody in the same way. To the Jews, he was a Jew; to the Gentiles, he was a Gentile; to the weak, he became weak. Paul adjusted himself, according to the need of the person he was dealing with.

His goal was to bring others to Christ. In being flexible and sensitive to the needs of those around him, St Paul actually became another Christ for the people.

Are we another Christ to other people?