The call to true conversion is always directed towards us
and not towards others, but in our zeal we sometimes forget this fact. But what
we must remember is that is it always easy to get passionate about other
peoples’ moral issues than it is to get honest about our own issues and areas
where we personally are being called to grow and change. And that is why we
must be careful when we find ourselves demanding conversion of others before we
have taken an honest look at the need for our own growth and purification.
Two quotes that address this issue:
1) Richard Rohr in The
Naked Now, p. 94: “The ego diverts your attention from anything that would
ask YOU to change, to righteous causes that invariably ask OTHERS to change.”
2) The Rule of Saint Benedict, chapter 72: “This, then, is
the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love: ‘They should each try
to be the first to show respect to the other’ (Rom 12:10), supporting
(=bearing) with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or
behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another.”
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