Currently I am reading This book, " The Three Ages of The Interior Life", by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP Volume II
A excerpt of this chapter, I would like to post and speak about, because we are all so guilty of this. More often than not we tend to judge by our own standards and thinking. We feel that our desicions are made in good conscience and judgement, but we are so wrong. When we think, and (that is the key) . They should not be our thoughts and judgements that we should be aspiring after, but those of Jesus Christ. We have thought on numerous accounts, that we were clear in our conscience about specific individuals and our opinions about what is correct and right according to our standards. We are deliberately judging others and doing so severely. This can put us in more danger than those who are already in grave dangers. We are not called to judge, and who do we think we are anyway, mightier than Thou?? I think not.
A Practical Manner of Living By the Spirit of Faith
" But it is our neighbor especially whom we forget to consider in the light of faith. We see him in the light of reason, which is deformed by our own prejudices, egoism, pride, jealousies, and other passions. Consequently we approve in our neighbor what pleases us from a humman point of view, what is conformed to our natural tastes or to our whims, what is useful to us, what makes us important, what our neighbor owes us. As a result, we condemn in him what annoys us, often what renders him superior to us, what offends us. How many rash, harsh, pitiless judgemnets, how many more or less conscious calumnies spring from this gaze that is darkened by self-love and pride!"
"If we could see our neighbor in the light of faith, with a pure spirited gaze, what profit for him and us! Then we would see in our superiors the representatives of God; we would obey them wholeheartedly without criticism, as we would our Lord Himself. In people who are naturally not congenial to us, we would see souls redeemed by the blood of Christ, who are part of His mystical body and perhaps nearer to His Sacred Heart than we are. Our supernatural gaze would pierce the opaque envelope of flesh and blood which prevents us from seeing the souls around us. Often we live for long years in the company of beautiful souls without ever suspecting it. We must merit to see souls in order to love them deeply and sincerely. Had we this love, we could tell them salutary truths and hear such truths from them.
"Lastly, we should see all the events of our lives, whether agreeable or painful, in the light of faith in order to live truly by the spirit of faith."
After reading this I am quick to say that I will try and think before I say who is right and who is wrong again. So the next time we try to set standards for others we had better take a very good look at ourselves first. We may not be particularly fond of the way someone goes about their lifestyle, but let us not judge and accept , especially our loved ones for who they are. Lesson well taken, I will add. Hopefully after reading this others will follow this also.
We will be judged, according to our judgement, as well, and I don't think that it will be well accepted by God to try and take over His authority.
So the next time I go to say "He or she, should be doing this or that", I better take a good look at what I should be doing instead.
SACRED HEART CHURCH NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
Official Mascot of The League of Warm & Fuzzy Traditionalists
