“Always think kindly of others, while holding yourself as nothing; this is true wisdom and leads to perfection. If you see another commit a grievous sin, or whose faults are flagrant, do not regard yourself as better, for you do not know what you would do if similarly tempted.” (“The Imitation of Christ”, by Thomas Kempis)

Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1

Jesus is our God and Saviour and He humbled Himself to come down from heaven to take on our sins, be tortured by His creation and die for us. He sees all but we do not. Only He is qualified to judge as He is God…yet sometimes we can be most arrogant, thinking we have all the answers, behaving as though we are indeed superior to one another.

Sometimes I wonder what it must be like to be born into a family of organized crime. From the time you are little you would likely hear about hatred and vengeance, killing and death. If we had been born into that same family would we not be similarly tempted to commit the same sins?

A few years ago I read about the rape and murder of a young woman. The day after her death the newspapers published the words of her family “We forgive him”.  Their faith was so great that they would not deny the man who took the life of their young daughter the greatest gift of all–forgiveness. The newspapers later reported that the man who raped the young woman had suffered horrible sexual abuse as a child. Mental health professionals tried to help him in his youth, but they were unsuccessful and he went on to wage violence and death. Would he have been violent if he had not been tortured as a child? May the Lord have mercy on him and his family that must be so full of grief. May the Lord bless the soul of the young woman who died and the special family that was so ready to forgive.

As people of Christian faith, let us kneel at the foot of the Cross asking Jesus to help us to be truly humble. Let’s stop judging and let’s pray that all souls will be embraced by the mercy of Jesus as we put God’s needs and those of our neighbors before our own.