Inspiring Ignatian Quote #9
This quote piggy backs on yesterday’s quote about ‘setting about making others better without starting with ourselves first’. I even mentioned that there are some people put in our lives to act as mirrors to show back to us what we look like to others. Ignatius was all about working on himself, feverishly, to a point when he realized he may be overdoing it. That led to some of the discernment techniques now used in the Spiritual Exercises during Spiritual Direction.
Matthew’s scripture in Chapter 7, verse 3 speaks about the speck we notice in the other’s eye when we have a log in our own. If we go back to the first verse in the chapter, we learn about judging others. “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, . . .”
On July 6th, Inspiring Ignatian Quote #6, I blogged about giving and not counting the cost. The second half of verse 2, Matthew goes on to share Jesus’ teaching about this, also. “. . . and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” So much to unpack in just 5 verses of Matthew’s Gospel! I think I’ll just leave this for you to go back to scripture and these quotes and see how biblically grounded Ignatius was and how applicable his and Jesus’ teachings are for us today! We need to be careful about judging others, about how and to whom we choose to give to, and, about noticing flaws in others that may also be flaws in ourselves.
Perhaps a humility check in there somewhere for us to ponder?
Perhaps some attitude and action adjustments are needed in our quest to become holier people?
Seeing God, the Loving Creator, the Divine, or Jesus, in others, can certainly help us not jump to quick conclusions and judgements and criticisms of others before examining ourselves, as well.
One time when Mother Teresa was asked how she could touch or even pick up the filthy, sick people in the gutters of Calcutta, her response was simply, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene: I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” hmmmm . . . that is a saint . . . a modern-day, 20th century saint. We are all called to be saints . . . the work is hard! But it starts with each one of us as individuals looking deep inside and finding the love we are called to share.