I grew up in a large Irish Catholic Family. In a small town, our bevy of Monahans was easily noticeable, especially within our little Catholic church. It was this church that taught us the foundation of kindness.

Kindness was learned when we placed a dollar from Grandma into the basket or in a lesson from one of our aunts teaching Catechism. We were taught to be kind to everyone, and it was also easy to recognize others who demonstrated similar kindness. Turns out, not all of those kind people were Catholics. And that didn’t seem to matter. They still did wonderful works of love that I knew God would appreciate.

As I grew older, I would come across people who had the view of “my way or the highway,” and in certain cases, the “my way” was the superiority of their Catholic faith, looking down at other faith traditions. I contend there are more similarities than differences between faiths, but sometimes people struggle to recognize or acknowledge when others do good work from different backgrounds. Helping members of the community in need, volunteering at the school, contributing to youth programs—what matters most isn’t what specific place of worship we attend but how we treat others.

I humbly attempt every day to walk in the path God laid out for me, including seeing his works performed by many people in many ways—often by people who are in stark contrast to myself, including religious affiliation. It is always a good reminder to be Christian and to appreciate when you see others walk as Christ walked. They are not against us but rather for us.