March 13, 2018: Love Does Not Rejoice at Wrong but Rejoices in the Right -Divine Mercy Week 6
March 13, 2018: Love Does Not Rejoice at Wrong but Rejoices in the Right -Divine Mercy Week 6
The crippled man in the gospel had been healed from a disease which was incurable. What should have been an occasion of joy and thanksgiving, the Pharisees saw as a gross violation of the Sabbath when the man carried his mat after being cured. The law of the time was, ”If anyone carries anything from a public place to a private house on the Sabbath intentionally he is punishable by death by stoning.” Instead of rejoicing, some were just negative, and by taking God’s law so literally, that petty detail of carrying a mat became an issue of life and death.
Do we judge people harshly sometimes? Today’s topic is, “Love does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” If we are honest, at times there lurks deep within us a negativity, a kind of toxic attitude that sometimes rejoices at seeing an injustice done to others. Or other times, we have a tendency to compare and compete which results in rejoicing in another’s failures.
Mother Teresa succinctly said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Pope Francis said that, “A person can certainly channel his passions in a beautiful and healthy way, increasingly pointing them towards altruism and an integrated self-fulfillment.”
In what ways do I secretly compare myself with others or rejoice in their failing? Am I quick to point out others’ mistakes while hiding my own?
Inner healing from our attitudes of negativity, comparing, and competing is a lifelong process which at times involve painful interior purification. Our healing begins by recognizing that Jesus is the source of living water that purifies and makes us new. We must allow our values to be measured by mercy of Jesus. We are to root out of our hearts all false ideals of morality and spirituality. We are to honestly and prayerfully lay before God these deep seated attitudes and allow him to transform our desires. Our Lord waits for us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to pour his cleansing Divine Mercy into our stony hearts.
