Mercy Instead Of Judgment

Last updated on: April 20, 2022 at 2:46 am by Henry Karlson

Mercy Instead Of Judgment 2022-04-20T02:46:05-05:00 Henry Karlson

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St. Augustine warns us against judging others, thinking that we are superior to them because we believe we are holier than them. We must not judge others to be sinners worthy of our scorn because they do not meet the expectations we have for them, expectations based on our likes and dislikes and what we find ourselves easily able to do. This is because when we do this, we embrace many vices, such as pride, vices which indicate we are far from being as holy as we think ourselves to be. Our embrace of them could indicate that we are actually far worse than those whom we judge. Indeed, we risk bringing condemnation upon ourselves:

It can happen, therefore, that someone avoid real sins, and be conscious of real virtues in himself, and give thanks for them to the Father of lights, from whom every good gift and every perfect gift comes, yet be damned because of the vice of pride if in his superiority he despises the other sinners, especially those who confess their sins in prayer, or even only in thought, since this is evident to God. Such sinners, indeed, deserve not an arrogant upbraiding, but mercy untouched by despair.[1]

We should not despise those whom we believe are sinners. We must not treat them harshly, justifying abusive behavior by saying they deserve what they get because of what they have done. Instead, we need to show them mercy and love, remembering that we have received mercy and love from God despite all that we have done or failed to do. “For God is always merciful and lenient to that person who imitates Him in mercy, for the holy and the elect, the poor and the weak, all are in need of mercy, since not one of them can live in this life without sin.”[2] Or, as St. John of Kronstadt wrote:

Love every man in spite of his falling into sin. Never mind the sins, but remember that the foundation of the man is the same – the image of God. Other people’s weaknesses strike us; they are malicious, proud, envious, avaricious, covetous, greedy; but you too are without evil – perhaps even there is more in you than in others. At least in respect to sins men are equal. [3]

We should be merciful, imitating the mercy of God. We should love all, just as God loves everyone. God’s mercy, compassion, and love can be seen metaphorically in the way mothers love their newborn children, giving of themselves, sometimes of their own body, to their children so that their children can have their every want and need given to them. “We learn the Creator’s mercy in his creatures, from the example of mothers, who by lovingly naturing their children on their bosom surpass all charity.” [4] This, then, is how we should be with others. We should give ourselves to them, and just as mothers love their children, no matter what they have done, we should love them, no matter what they have done, revealing that love in the way we treat them. If we abuse them, if we deride or insult them, we have yet to manifest the fullness of that love, showing ourselves to be far from holy or just ourselves.

We should do what we can to improve the lives of others; we cannot ignore injustices in the world. Our mercy, therefore, should be manifest in the way we promote justice, doing what we can to remove various evils, various unjust sufferings, from the lives of others, even as we exhort them to do what they can so as not to add to such injustices in the world themselves: “Just as mercy, then, demands that we drive away these evils from others, so innocence forbids us to inflict them.” [5] The more we treat others poorly, the more we make them suffer, the more we find ourselves losing sight of mercy and risk losing such mercy for ourselves. Harsh words, though they might easily come from us when we are angry, when we are wounded from the actions and barbs of others, only makes things worse; instead of building people up, we tear them down further. It is even worse when those who hold positions of authority over others are unable to be merciful and kind, for their words, their actions, have that much more ability to strike down and destroy than those without such power, which is why St. Hildegard made it clear that superiors, those in position of authority, must truly follow the way mothers lovingly deal with their children:

Just so, if superiors use harsh words to their subordinates, they do not build them up, but lead them instead into error. For a superior must sift the words of his teachings with maternal sweetness so that his subordinates will gladly open their mouths and swallow them.[6]

In case we might think that some people cannot be helped by mercy or love, that some will be so hardened that they will resist mercy, and so justify ourselves when we are abusive to them, the apologist Macarius points out that God does not give up on anyone, as God shows love and mercy to all, hoping through it, that all might be saved:

But in stating this, the Apostle was not of the opinion that some are granted mercy by God while others are not granted mercy but have their hearts hardened, but rather he holds that all are granted mercy by God and saved, saying, “He who wants all men to be saved.”[7]

We must embrace the way of mercy, keeping mercy at the forefront of our actions towards others. We must not make up excuses to justify a judgmental attitude towards those we deem to be sinners. We must always engage everyone with love, exhorting everyone do better instead of threatening them or treating them badly for how terrible we judge them to be.

[1] St. Augustine, “Holy Virginity” in Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects. Trans. John McQuade. Ed. Roy J. Defarrari (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1955), 181.

[2] St. Hildegard of Bingen, “Letter 307” in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Volume III. Trans. Joseph L Baird and Radd K Ehrman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 107.

[3] St John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ. Trans. E.E. Goulaeff (London: Cassel and Company, Ltd., 1897; repr. Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Monastery, 2000), 95.

[4] St. Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah in St Jerome: Commentary on Isaiah; Origen Homilies 1-9 on Isaiah. Trans. Thomas P. Scheck (New York: Paulist Press, 2015), 861.

[5] St. Augustine, “The Way of Life of the Catholic Church” in The Catholic and Manichaen Ways of Life. Trans. Donald a. Gallagher and Idella J. Gallagher (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1963), 42.

[6] St. Hildegard of Bingen, “Letter 155r” in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Volume II. Trans. Joseph L Baird and Radd K Ehrman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 100.

[7] Macarius, Apocriticus. Trans. Jeremy M. Schott and Mark J. Edwards (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2015), 196.

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