Pope Francis explains why judging yourself is a Christian virtue
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Pope Francis explains why judging yourself is a Christian virtueĀ
The capacity of all men to commit the most despicable of sins should inspire the self-awareness necessary to accept God’s mercy and move forward in the Christian life, Pope Francis said.
āWe are all sinners,ā the pontiff said in his Lenten homily at the Santa Marta residence chapel Mar. 2. He added that it is āa Christian virtueā to be able to judge oneself, according to Vatican Radio’s translation.
The Holy Father centered his reflection on the theme of mercy as found in the day’s Mass readings, such as the Gospel of Luke in which Jesus calls his followers to āBe merciful, even as your Father is merciful.ā
To judge oneself means ānot hiding from the roots of sin that are in all of us, the many things we are capable of doing, even if we cannot see them,ā Pope Francis said.
While it is āeasier to blame othersā for our sins, he continued, it promotes interior peace and health to consider what āwe are capable of doing,ā even if at first, āwe feel disgust.ā
āWe are all masters, professors of self-justification,ā and āhave an alibi to explain away our shortcomings, our sins,ā while putting on āan innocent face,ā he said.
āThis is no way to lead a Christian life.ā
One example the Pope gave of the wisdom which comes from being able to judge oneself is āwhen I feel envy in my heart,ā and know that this leads to being ācapable of speaking ill of others and morally assassinating them.ā
This is an essential lesson for the Christian, the Pope said: āIf we do not learn this first step in life, we will never, never be able to take other steps on the road of our Christian life, of our spiritual life.ā
He presents another example of passing by a prison, and thinking the inmates within deserve to be there.
āYet do you know that if it werenāt for the grace of God you would be there?ā the Holy Father asked. āDid you ever think that you are capable of doing the things that they have done, even worse?ā
Pope Francis went on to reflect on the importance of shame before God, a theme which arises in the Monday’s first reading taken from the book of Daniel: āO Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you. But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!ā
āThis Lent, it would do us all good to have this dialogue with the Lord,ā in which we accuse ourselves, the Pope said. āLet us ask for mercy.ā
Pope Francis turned back to the Gospel reading, in which Jesus says: āJudge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.ā
āBut, who am I to judge, if I am able to do things that are worse?ā the pope asked in a Catholic News Agency report.Ā
The Holy Father concluded his homily, asking God this Lent to āgive us the grace to learn to judge ourselvesā in light of our capacity to do the āthe most evil things,ā and to pray: āHave mercy on me, Lord, help me to be ashamed and grant me mercy, so I may be merciful to others.ā