Part III, Chapter XXVIII

Of Rash Judgment

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged,” says the Saviour of our souls; “Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.” (Luke 6:37) “Judge not,” says the holy apostle, “before the time; until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” (1 Corinthians 4:5) Oh, how displeasing are rash judgments to God! The judgments of the children of men are rash, because they are not the judges of one another, and therefore usurp to themselves the office of our Lord. They are rash, because the principal malice of sin depends on the intent in the heart, which is an impenetrable secret to us. They are not only rash, but also impertinent, because every one will find sufficient employment in judging himself, without taking upon him to judge his neighbor. To avoid future judgment it is as necessary to refrain from judging others as to be careful to judge ourselves. For, as our Lord forbids the one, so the apostle enjoins the others, saying, that “if we judged ourselves we should not be judged.” But we act quite the contrary; for, by judging our neighbor on every occasion, we do that which is forbidden; and, by not judging ourselves, we neglect to practise that which we are strictly commanded.

The remedies against rash judgments must be according to their different causes. There are some hearts naturally so bitter and harsh as to make everything bitter and harsh that they receive, converting judgment, as the prophet Amos says, into wormwood, by never judging their neighbors except with all rigor and harshness. These must seek the advice of a good spiritual physician, because this bitterness of heart, being natural to them, is subdued with difficulty; and though it be not in itself a sin, but an imperfection only, yet it is dangerous, because it introduces and causes rash judgment and detraction to reign in the soul. Some judge rashly, not through harshness, but through pride, imagining, that in the same proportion as they depress the honor of other men, they raise their own. Arrogant and presumptuous spirits, who admire and place themselves so high in their own esteem, look on all others as mean and abject. “I am not like the rest of men,” said the foolish Pharisee. (Luke 18:11) Others, who have not altogether this manifest pride, indulge a certain satisfaction in considering the evil qualities of other men, the more agreeably to contemplate, and make others admire the contrary good qualities wherewith they think themselves endowed; for this complacency is so secret and imperceptible as not to be discovered even by those who are tainted therewith. Others, to silence or assuage the remorse of their own consciences, very willingly judge others to be guilty of the same vices to which they themselves are addicted, or of some other vices equally as great; thinking that the multitude of offenders diminishes the guilt of the sin. Many take the liberty of judging others rashly, merely for the pleasure of delivering their opinion and conjectures on their manners and humors, by way of exercising their wit; and if, unhappily, they sometimes happen not to err in their judgment, their rashness increases to so violent an excess as to render it in a manner impossible ever to effect their cure. Others judge through passion and prejudice, always thinking well of what they love, and ill of that which they hate; excepting in one case only, not less wonderful than true, in which the excess of love incites them to pass an ill judgment on that which they love,— a paradoxical effect, which always proceeds from an impure and distempered love; and this is jealousy, which, as every one knows, on account of a mere look, or the least smile, condemns the person beloved of disloyalty or adultery. In fine, fear, ambition, and other similar weaknesses of the mind, frequently contribute towards the breeding of suspicious and rash judgments.

But what is the remedy? As they who drink the juice of the herb called ophiusa, imagine that they everywhere behold serpents and other frightful objects; so they who have imbibed pride, envy, ambition, and hatred, think everything they see evil and blamable. The former, to be healed, must drink palm wine; and I say to the latter, drink copiously of the sacred wine of charity, and it will deliver you from those noxious humors that engender rash judgment. As charity is afraid to meet evil, so she never seeks after it; but whenever it falls in her way she turns her face aside, and does not notice it. At the first alarm of evil she closes her eyes, and afterwards believes, with an honest simplicity, that it was not evil, but only its shadow or apparition; and if she cannot avoid sometimes acknowledging it to be real evil she quickly turns from it, and endeavors to forget even its shadow. Charity is the sovereign remedy for all evils, but for this especially. All things appear yellow to the eyes of those who are afflicted with the jaundice; and it is said, that to cure this evil they must wear celandine under the soles of their feet. The sin of rash judgment is indeed a spiritual jaundice, and causes all things to appear evil to the eyes of those who are infected; he that would be cured must not apply the remedies to his eyes, or his understanding; but to his affections, which are the feet of the soul. If your affections are mild, your judgment will also be mild; if your affections are charitable, your judgment will also be charitable. I shall here present you with three admirable examples: Isaac had said that Rebecca was his sister; Abimelech saw him playing with her, that is to say, caressing her in a tender manner. (Genesis 26:8), and presently he thought she was his wife. A malicious eye would rather have judged her to have been his harlot, or, if she were his sister, that he had been incestuous; but Abimelech embraced the most charitable opinion he could concerning such an action. We must always do the same, Philothea, judging as much as possible in favor of our neighbors; and, if one action could bear a hundred faces, we should always consider that which is the fairest.

Our blessed Lady was with child (Matthew 1:18), and St. Joseph plainly perceived it; but, on the other hand, as he saw her holy, pure, and angelical, he could not believe she became pregnant in an unlawful manner; so that he resolved to leave her privately, and commit the judgment of her case to God; and though the argument was well calculated to make him conceive an ill opinion of his virgin spouse, yet he would never judge her; and why? Because, says the spirit of God, “he was a just man.” A just man, when he can no longer excuse either the action, or the intention, of him whom otherwise he sees to be virtuous, nevertheless will not judge him, but endeavors to forget it, and leaves the judgment to God. Thus, our blessed Saviour on the cross (Luke 23:34), not being able to excuse entirely the sin of those that crucified him, extenuated the malice of it by alleging their ignorance. When we cannot excuse the sin let us at least render it worthy of compassion, attributing it to the most favorable cause, such as ignorance or infirmity.

But can we never judge our neighbor? No, verily, never. It is God, O Philothea! that judges malefactors in public justice. It is true that he uses the voice of judges to make himself intelligible to our ears; they are his interpreters, and ought to pronounce nothing but what they have learnt of him, as being his oracles; if they act otherwise, by following their own passions, then, indeed, it is they that judge, and who consequently shall be judged; for it is forbidden to men, in quality of men, to judge others.

To see or know a thing is not to judge it; for judgment, at least according to Scripture, presupposes some difficulty, great or small, true or apparent, which is to be decided; wherefore it says (John 3:18), that “He who believeth not is already judged,” because there is no doubt of his damnation. Is it not, then, a sin to doubt of our neighbor? No, for we are not forbidden to doubt, but to judge; however, it is only allowable to doubt or suspect as far as reason and arguments may constrain us, otherwise our doubts and suspicions will be rash.

If some evil eye had seen Jacob when he kissed Rachel by the well, or had seen Rebecca receive bracelets and ear-rings from Eliezer, a man unknown in that country, he would no doubt have thought ill of these two patrons of chastity; but without reason or foundation: for, when an action is in itself indifferent, it is a rash suspicion to draw an ill consequence from it, unless many circumstances give strength to the argument. It is also a judgment to draw an argument from an action, in order to blame the person; but this I shall hereafter explain more clearly.

In fine, those who have tender consciences are not very subject to rash judgment; for, as the bees in misty or cloudy weather keep in their hives to arrange their honey; so the thoughts of good souls do not venture in search of objects that lie concealed amidst the cloudy actions of their neighbors; but, to avoid meeting them, they retire into their own hearts, to arrange the good resolutions of their own amendments.

It is natural to an unprofitable soul to amuse itself with examining the lives of other persons: I except spiritual directors, fathers of families, magistrates, etc., because a considerable part of their duty consists in watching over the conduct of others; let them discharge their duty with love, and, having done this, they must then attend to their own advancement in virtue.

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