More Therese
“Judge not and you shall not be judged.” - Luke 6: 37
An incident in the life of Little Therese came to mind this morning. It happened one Christmas when volunteers were called to leave recreation to open the gates for workmen delivering Christmas trees for the creche. Therese was ready to go do it, finding recreation rather boring, yet she was slow to arise, out of charity preferring the sister next to her to be able to go. The nun in charge of dispatching the sisters for the assignment observed how slowly Therese was moving.
Thinking she did not want to do the job, the nun in charges said, “Ah! I thought as much - you were not going to gain this pearl for your crown, you were going too slowly.” The entire community thought that Therese had acted in selfishness, yet Therese rejoiced in this humiliation. It was in just such little things wherein her delicate sensitivity understood the weakness of others, the necessity to be charitable, and to refrain from judging another, since we likewise can so easily mistake virtue for what is actually an imperfection, perhaps even a selfish act.
If we sometimes cannot always be sure of our own motives, how can we judge the motives of others?
(Thanks to a little Robin for inspiring this post.)
February 19th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I believe that I am more judgemental than I think I am…
I can’t stand it in others, so there you have it.
PS: I posted a post concerning your earlier query - & administration posted a reply. My computer is still very slow, so go check it when you have the chance…
& I hope it helps.
February 19th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Hmmm -
Well, I didn’t understand it myself, so maybe you could ask Lee A. yourself - he did say to email if you have any questions…
If you get any info, will you please pass it along?
February 20th, 2007 at 1:49 am
As I pray my way through the Novena to Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother (see Vultus Christi – there are reflections and prayers for each day) I see that in so many ways he was a spiritual “twin” to la petite Thérèse. They both died at 24, and of the same illness, but quite apart from that both of them went to God by the little way.
Gabrielino wrote:
“Our perfection does not consist of doing extraordinary things but to do the ordinary well.”
and,
“My sole merit lies in Your wounds.”
Now, doesn’t he sound like la petite Thérèse?
February 21st, 2007 at 7:47 am
Being misunderstood is a horrible thing to the human heart. Our Lord was misunderstood constantly and you can see how it grieved Him. I was planning to try and use that this year for my Lenten sacrifice. When the episodes come up–for me it seems they come up a lot as I am sensitive to it! to just sit back and make it a conversation to learn instead of my educating other’s with a lashing tongue…I have recently seen that there have been times I judged someone–eps. my husband as mean and even cruel when he was really trying to be unselfish…Mainly it is “SLOW DOWN”. My brain rushes to the judgement before I can even really ponder what transpired in an effort to protect myself from even more perceived hurt…