Judge Not and Work Hard

Written for Facebook, July 24, 2010

A few months ago there were two lessons I learned within a few days of each other. I had intended to write about them right away because they were quite powerful lessons, but this is my first opportunity. Ever since coming back to the church close to seven years ago, I had come to discover that while there is a unity that exists in the Church ecclesiologically, there are variations in terms of expressions of that same Catholic faith. For certain groups, I have in the past developed a repertoire of jokes about their particular kind of spirituality, mocked it, and laughed at it. There would be times where I would conclude that these individuals were in it for the “me-centeredness” of it. They had a craving for attention and being “special”. Ironically, these were the same charges thrown at some brands of “conservatives” who would engage in non-normative postures at the Ordinary Form, such as kneeling for communion.

Now, I try my best to assist at daily Mass. There are times when I cannot make it to an English Mass and so I go to a Spanish Mass. There was a particular young man who I had observed for some weeks. He had specific kinds of gestures. A very extra-ordinary set of postures and gestures which differed even among his peers. To me it seemed over the top. To me it seemed lacking in theological understanding of the postures he was choosing to use, as I observed that he was doing them in inappropriate contexts. I was perfectly content in my judgment that he must be set out to get recognition for his pious practices. Later that same evening, I decided to pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. A familiar face was present. It was the same young man. I quietly entered and sat in the pew behind him. As I sat there quietly, I observed this young man attentively reading the Sacred texts. Page after page, he read the Bible. From time to time he would pause and glance at Our Lord. He knelt, he prayed, he read. It occurred to me at that moment. Here is a young man, with a simple faith. Notice I did not say simplistic faith. He had a simple faith. There were no great crowds to impress. He didn’t make exaggerated gestures to gain attention. As I quietly observed this man’s faith, lived out, as I knelt praying, it occurred to me” this is a man who I believe has a genuine faith. He expresses it differently than I do or am comfortable doing, but he struck me as a man of deep faith. The lesson that I learned that evening is that, even though I may disagree with a number of various movements in the Church, on doctrinal and practical levels, I have to recognize it is not my place to judge their sincerity. It is not my place. If it is not of God, it will not last. But if it is of God, and I work against it, I may very well find myself fighting against God Himself.

The second lesson came when I scheduled a short walking pilgrimage from a local parish named after our Lady and a religious order retreat center. A new friend decided to join me. It was about three miles. When we arrived, the chapel was being cleaned by the nuns. So we prayed the Rosary outside. After some time passed, we entered to pray a second set of mysteries. As we prayed I observed one of the nuns enter the side with a mop. She proceeded to mop the floors, row by row. If it were I doing it, or perhaps many of you reading this, we would find ways to have a shortcut in this chore. But this nun, slowly but surely, mopped away. Half way through, she paused in the center, turned towards the tabernacle, and leaned against the mop for a brief moment, took a breath, and continued her work. This simple gesture almost drove me to tears. It was incredibly moving for me. Here is an anonymous religious sister, who did her work well. She did it in the presence of God, and God only knows what she was thinking in those brief moments. For my purposes, it really didn’t matter. The lesson was clear for me. Many times we do work for human respect, for accolades from our peers and associates. We do it because we want to feel good about ourselves and hear how good our work is. It didn’t occur to us if our work was pleasing to God, first and foremost? This faithful little nun will not get any diocesan awards for her work that day. She won’t be nominated for the Pro Ecclesia award from the Holy See. She won’t even get a nice gift basket filled with fruit. What an injustice! No. She does not do these things for earthly materialistic rewards; she doesn’t need them. She doesn’t do it for human respect; she doesn’t need it. She does it for God, and for His glory. Friends, what motivates us in the work that we do? Is it motivated by thirst for power, prestige, human respect, pride, material gain, or is it motivated out of love for the very cause of our being? Choose carefully.