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"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement that you pronounce you shall be judged, and the measure you give shall be the measure you get." -- Matthew 7:1-2
"They bind heavy burdens. hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulder's; but they themselves will not move them with their finger".--- Matthew 23:4
Something that I never see talked about is that judging someone applies more than one way. It's not just judging people negatively that lays a heavy burden on their shoulders.
A couple weeks ago, there was lot of attention given to this video (this video shows the more relevant clips) of Francis Chan talking about the history of Christianity, and how he sounds really sympathetic to Catholicism and enthusiastic about the Eucharist for a popular Protestant pastor.
Hundreds of people were commenting on social media saying that he'll surely convert to being a Catholic, and how it's only a matter of time before he's a Catholic apologist. Any difficulty surely won't stand in his way, after all, what difficulty would be worth hesitating at when the prize is a closer relationship with God? He's already given up so much for God, it'll be a cinch! The guy is practically a shoe in!
Never mind that converting would mean leaving behind the entire framework that this man was raised with as to how believing and behaving as a faithful Christian works. Never mind that it would mean leaving behind his support network, ministry, and way of life. Never mind that none of the people commenting were in a position to offer him a job or training in Catholic theology if he actually left. He obviously loves Jesus, so he'll end up Catholic. It's obvious.
In the pro-life community, I occasionally see a similar train of thought applied to women who consider abortion.
People wonder how a woman could bring herself to kill the child in her womb, what kind of a monster or murderer she would have to be to do that. Surely it's all because she's wildly, horribly selfish, after all, how else could someone bring themselves to do something like this?
I don't see these sorts of statements as often as I used to, but I still see them way too often. There's no attempt to understand in these statements-- only to blame. The people making them don't stop to think about why a woman would consider doing such a thing, and what they can do to alleviate those circumstances. Never mind that she had hypermesis gravderium and couldn't walk more than a few steps without vomiting. Never mind that her boyfriend threatened violence against her and her toddler if she didn't go through with it. She killed her child, murdered her baby in the womb, so she must be horribly self centered and callous. It's obvious.
In both cases, the people making these are making a judgement of a human being's character without empathy, and without seeking understanding of their circumstances or motivations. They aren't seeking to help them navigate their circumstances, but rather demanding that they do the right thing in a sort of mental circumstantial vacuum and then deal with the fallout on their own.
It is absolutely true that doing the right thing, even when it is difficult, is our moral obligation. If not doing a bad thing is hard, and we do the bad thing, then we have sinned. A sinful action is always a sin. Morality is not relative, and there is objective right and wrong.
But it is also true that not doing the bad thing is often really, REALLY difficult. And it's true that even people who genuinely love the Lord and seek to follow Him still fail at it.
Remember, the apostles followed Jesus for three years and promised to follow Him to the death. Staying with Him was the right thing to do.
The night He was betrayed, almost all of them ran away.
Every person, no matter what their place in life or in the Church, is prone to human concupiscence. The Pope needs our prayers just as much as the struggling alcoholic, because both men were born with the same proclivity to sin. We can't make assumptions about a person's interior state; God alone can judge the human heart. ALL men need both our mercy and the mercy of God.
We have a responsibility to help one another to do the right thing and to support one another.
That's why the future of the pro-life movement is in helping and enabling vulnerable women to leave bad situations and support themselves.
That's why dioceses need to do a better job providing resources to families that want to follow the Church's teaching on marriage and family life.
That's why the most successful missionary endeavors are the ones that seek to fill people's physical needs before addressing their spiritual ones.
That's why adhering to Safe Environment standards and training are so important in dioceses, for priests and pastors as well as for laity.
That's why it's so important to keep healthy interpersonal boundaries, without exceptions, in religious and secular organizations.
That's why it's important to offer to come by and clean or cook for a mom who just gave birth to a baby, or to someone suffering from a chronic illness.
That's why the Pope and the clergy desperately need our prayers, even the 'holy' ones.
It is an essential spiritual act of mercy to do what we can to alleviate the circumstances that make choosing the right thing difficult. Rather than judging your brother, either as sinner or as a saint, do what you can to minimize the near occasion of sin in their lives, and work to enable them to do the right thing.
Leave the rest to God.
A couple weeks ago, there was lot of attention given to this video (this video shows the more relevant clips) of Francis Chan talking about the history of Christianity, and how he sounds really sympathetic to Catholicism and enthusiastic about the Eucharist for a popular Protestant pastor.
Hundreds of people were commenting on social media saying that he'll surely convert to being a Catholic, and how it's only a matter of time before he's a Catholic apologist. Any difficulty surely won't stand in his way, after all, what difficulty would be worth hesitating at when the prize is a closer relationship with God? He's already given up so much for God, it'll be a cinch! The guy is practically a shoe in!
Never mind that converting would mean leaving behind the entire framework that this man was raised with as to how believing and behaving as a faithful Christian works. Never mind that it would mean leaving behind his support network, ministry, and way of life. Never mind that none of the people commenting were in a position to offer him a job or training in Catholic theology if he actually left. He obviously loves Jesus, so he'll end up Catholic. It's obvious.
In the pro-life community, I occasionally see a similar train of thought applied to women who consider abortion.
People wonder how a woman could bring herself to kill the child in her womb, what kind of a monster or murderer she would have to be to do that. Surely it's all because she's wildly, horribly selfish, after all, how else could someone bring themselves to do something like this?
I don't see these sorts of statements as often as I used to, but I still see them way too often. There's no attempt to understand in these statements-- only to blame. The people making them don't stop to think about why a woman would consider doing such a thing, and what they can do to alleviate those circumstances. Never mind that she had hypermesis gravderium and couldn't walk more than a few steps without vomiting. Never mind that her boyfriend threatened violence against her and her toddler if she didn't go through with it. She killed her child, murdered her baby in the womb, so she must be horribly self centered and callous. It's obvious.
In both cases, the people making these are making a judgement of a human being's character without empathy, and without seeking understanding of their circumstances or motivations. They aren't seeking to help them navigate their circumstances, but rather demanding that they do the right thing in a sort of mental circumstantial vacuum and then deal with the fallout on their own.
It is absolutely true that doing the right thing, even when it is difficult, is our moral obligation. If not doing a bad thing is hard, and we do the bad thing, then we have sinned. A sinful action is always a sin. Morality is not relative, and there is objective right and wrong.
But it is also true that not doing the bad thing is often really, REALLY difficult. And it's true that even people who genuinely love the Lord and seek to follow Him still fail at it.
Remember, the apostles followed Jesus for three years and promised to follow Him to the death. Staying with Him was the right thing to do.
The night He was betrayed, almost all of them ran away.
Every person, no matter what their place in life or in the Church, is prone to human concupiscence. The Pope needs our prayers just as much as the struggling alcoholic, because both men were born with the same proclivity to sin. We can't make assumptions about a person's interior state; God alone can judge the human heart. ALL men need both our mercy and the mercy of God.
We have a responsibility to help one another to do the right thing and to support one another.
That's why the future of the pro-life movement is in helping and enabling vulnerable women to leave bad situations and support themselves.
That's why dioceses need to do a better job providing resources to families that want to follow the Church's teaching on marriage and family life.
That's why the most successful missionary endeavors are the ones that seek to fill people's physical needs before addressing their spiritual ones.
That's why adhering to Safe Environment standards and training are so important in dioceses, for priests and pastors as well as for laity.
That's why it's so important to keep healthy interpersonal boundaries, without exceptions, in religious and secular organizations.
That's why it's important to offer to come by and clean or cook for a mom who just gave birth to a baby, or to someone suffering from a chronic illness.
That's why the Pope and the clergy desperately need our prayers, even the 'holy' ones.
It is an essential spiritual act of mercy to do what we can to alleviate the circumstances that make choosing the right thing difficult. Rather than judging your brother, either as sinner or as a saint, do what you can to minimize the near occasion of sin in their lives, and work to enable them to do the right thing.
Leave the rest to God.
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