Mark Dohle
Well-Known Member
I See All Circumstances
I do not judge you harshly, any more than the shepherd judges harshly the sheep that, in its stupidity, separated itself from the flock and lost its way. I see all the circumstances that come between Me and your desire to be with Me. I harbour no resentment in My Sacred Heart, nor do I hold a grudge against those who, because of human weakness, or ill health, or fatigue, find it difficult to honour their promise to abide in My presence often and even daily.
A Benedictine Monk. In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart--The Journal of a Priest at Prayer (p. 251). Angelico Press. Kindle Edition.
++++++++++
Whenever the subject of judging comes up people are very quick to defend this deeply disturbing sin, and fault, that many have. I place myself in this category. Often it is a vehicle for misplaced anger to be used under the guise of helping others by speaking the truth in anger, or from a stance of self-righteousness. I find it much easier to judge others instead of looking into my own inner struggles and failures. For the just man falls seven times a day, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. (Proverbs 24:16). The problem is when I judge harshly, or in an unloving manner, do I rise from it, or justify myself in piety that keeps me from seeing my own failures that need healing.
To be wicked is to make my brothers and sister ‘other’ than me, and in that I place myself above them, looking down upon them. When in fact, I am no better, or even worse, because I have become blind to my own transgressions. I can come up with many excuses for my behaviors, but fail to do that for others who do the same things. I place myself outside of the healing grace of Our Lord when I find myself in this state. It is a call to conversion. If ignored can lead to deep alienation from myself, others, and in the end God.
The Lord is gentle towards all because he sees all the circumstances of our lives. He also understands our ‘lack-of-freedom’, and how it is a long process to grow into the freedom of the sons/daughters of God. We grow when we understand how we fail, and at times how actually sinful it really is. Although more often than not it is because of my own weakness and lack of understanding. The more opaque I am to myself, the more I see it in others. I have learned that if I am harsh towards someone, and condemning, I need to look within…..it can be very humbling to do so.
I have nothing to fear from the Lord unless it is the fear that one day I could grow into a person who cares naught for God, or others, or in fact, for myself as well.
By understanding the Lord’s compassion and mercy towards me, it will slowly over time thaw out my often steely, rocklike heart. It is still ongoing after all of these years. The Lord I patient with me and works through my many walls that seem to erect themselves on their own. So why should I not have mercy and compassion on others?
Self-love can be the hardest. To love, as Jesus as wants me to love myself, is a bit different than what is normally thought of what self-love is by the world. Jesus shows us the way. By spending time with the Lord in prayer, my heart is slowly healed over the stretch of my life. So the struggle to love and forgive and to be compassionate, and the failures that go with that, are ways to lead us deeper into trust. Just keep going, develop a holy stubbornness to not allow one’s lack of inner freedom, and tendency to be unloving to stop us, for it is grace that heals. Jesus Christ love for us is what brings us all home…..just trust, take the next step-Br.MD