judging and condeming others: by father john dietzen

read this article by fr. dietzen today in the catholic times:

Q:  Shortly after the funeral of Sen. Ted Kennedy, I was stunned to hear a talk-show person commenting, "Who is going to tell the children that Sen. Kennedy is not going to heaven."  Being raised Catholic, I was taught that even a last-minute act of contrition or plea to God would assure us of a place in heaven.  Could you clarify what he said?

A:  I don't know this individual's religious beliefs, of course, but from the viewpoint of Catholic teaching and that of most other mainline Christian traditions, the statement was shamefully uninformed and shallow.

Even some Catholics seem equally unaware of (or maybe they just don't accept) Catholic and common Christian belief, which pretty much parallels what you said.  God's grace is always at work in each of us as long as we live.

Sadly, some people have just enough faith to believe in a God who judges us, but not enough faith to believe in a God who loves us.  So they believe their surest way of pleasing God is to judge others as well.

We all need forgiveness.  As one spiritual writer put it, we are all beggars at the door of God's mercy.  We have a hard enough time trying to discern the secret movements of God's grace in our own hearts without pretending to know the inner secrets of someone else.

It is the grossest kind of spiritual pride, not to say foolishness, to imagine we have inside knowledge of God's relationship with any other human being, or that we know which people He should condemn or not. 

There is also the fact that we have a direct and serious command of our Lord not to judge one another. To claim or act as if we can judge another person's state of soul, that we have knowledge of that person's most intimate relationship with God, even what God's eternal plan is for that person, is or should be among other things just silly for anyone who professes to believe in the God of Christians. 

Unfortunately, there are too many who, letting their emotions and prejudices get the better of them, recklessly are willing to do just that.

So,  your instincts are spiritually healthy.  Self-righteous contempt and ridicule of those we disagree with sometimes appear politically useful and even make one feel self-satisfied, but not only is such a strategy seriously wrong, it never advances the cause of good.

St. Thomas Aquinas, along with countless other Catholic theologians, reminds us that God has ways of reaching people with His love and grace about which we know nothing.  That is our faith. 

This may sound trite, but it is nonetheless valid:  We must hate the sin, but love the sinner.  That's what Jesus always did, and that's what he requires us to do.