CRITIC WITH A HEART

October 15, 2010
Friday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 12:1-7

Critic with a Heart:

Criticism is an art, virtue and business. In literature criticism is an art. In religion it is a virtue. In media it is a business. We cannot live without criticism. In journalistic approach fairness and objectivity arise only in a critical view of reality. In a culture of liberty and integrity critics abound. However, criticism can do more harm than good if it is not done in proper manner and disposition. Liberty and freedom of expression does not mean that one has the absolute right of criticizing another to the point of destroying him/her. Indeed, not everyone has the right to criticize. As Abraham Lincoln has once said, “he has the right to criticize who has a heart to help”. Criticism therefore should be practiced only with a view to help and not to destroy.

Jesus was a critic. He was a critic with a heart. He criticized not individuals rather the rotting system of the Pharisees and the scribes which ran on the fuel of hypocrisy. Jesus challenged them to self-critic. The chief purpose of God becoming man was to invite us to be critics not of others but of ourselves. In His preaching, healing, performing miracles, companionship with the sinners and outcasts, sufferings, death and resurrection Jesus called for conversion. Conversion begins with an examination of conscience, a criticism of the heart. Jesus model is a critic with a heart. The intention of the critic be pure, without blemish and holy. It is totally opposite of the kind of journalistic criticism as proposed by Kushwant Sing in his adage, “with malice towards all”. Jesus’ model rather is one born in love, as a mother who would critic her baby, a lover who would critic his/her partner. In this form of criticism, the critic owns responsibility for the situation and places him/herself in the position of the criticized, and then proposes the ways to change. Correction is a noble ministry, a divine responsibility God has put in the hearts every lover. It is not a weapon placed in the hands of an enemy. Indeed, I have no right to criticize my enemies. I can only criticize my friends. If I do not criticize my friends, then I am not a true friend.

Fear the Right Thing:

Fear is a common experience I have learned to live with. What are my fears? Do I fear the right things? I may fear cockroaches, rats, insects, lizards, snakes, ghosts, and other elements in nature. I might have phobias that frozen my thoughts, feelings and numb my movements. It is funny, however, that I fear such insignificant things as the insects and un harmful things as spirits or imagined things as ghosts, yet I do not fear the real things I should. In Jesus’ words, there is only one thing I need to fear: God! If I have fear of God then I fear nothing else. If I am not God-fearing then I fear everything else. Fear of God, however is not the fear I have of things, elements, situations, and people. It is a reverential fear. It is the “owe and wonder” I experience when I realize the might, power and glory of God. As I stand before the “tremendous, fascinating mystery” that is God, I realize how little I am, yet how exalted I am because of His grace! This realization at once elevates me to the height of His grace and to the depths of my creatureliness. I fall on my knees before Him in adoration and praise!

Thought Capsule
God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person. (Saint Teresa of Avila)

EYE (I) TROUBLES

September 10, 2010
Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 6: 39-42

One of the most delicate organs of our body is the eye. It can easily get sick, infectious and contaminated. When the eye is in trouble the whole body is in darkness. Blindness can affect not only the body but also the mind and the soul. This is why we need to check our eyes so very often.

I am talking not just about the physical eye, but more so of the inner eye and the “I” of myself. The “I” defines me. The “I” is my self—my true self and my false self. When the “I” is infected, sick and contaminated, “I” become “selfish”, “self-centered” and “self-righteous”. I am selfish when I carry a big ego, when I consider myself as the one who deserves everything in the world, when I think “I am” all in all. Selfishness does not allow me to see the other. You do not exist for me, or you do not matter to me. All that I care, is me, and mine.

Self-centerdness is revealed in me when I think of myself as the center of the universe, the center of attraction. You exist in as much as you are useful for me. I can see you as a thing, as a person secondary to me, as one who ought to serve me.

The self-righteous I would see you, and so very often notice you, but as an imperfect, subordinate being. If there is a problem in the community, I am the victim and you are the criminal. You are the source of all problems. I am perfect and holy. You need to improve a great lot. I consider it my duty to improve you and change you. I am happy to volunteer in pointing out the “evil” in you and the “splinter in your eyes”. I am a self-righteous person when I am an expert in criticism, tsismis and nagging. This is when I feel worried and restless over the splinter in your eyes, I do not realize the wooden beam in my own eye.

Now Jesus offers free consultation and cure for all “I” problems. Let me examine my “I” in the clinic of Jesus. Let me wash my “I” in the waters of repentance and cleanse my “I” in the drops of grace. Let the laser beams of His Word cut through the blindness of my “self”. Let me not over-expose my “I” to the contagious, harmful elements outside. Let me keep my “I” closed and shut at times, that I may restrain from all gossip, criticisms, self-praise, and condemnation of the world around me. Let my exercise of faith and spiritual practices help me have the courage to bare my true self (I) before the Lord and submit myself for an “I” transplant. My false self may be replaced with the true self of Jesus. Then I will be able to say with St Paul, ““Now I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2: 20).

No, No, But Yes!

September 3, 2010
Friday of Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 5: 33-39


Jesus gives us three practical, simple yet profound principles of life which should be the mark of every Christian: Do not criticize, do not compare, and have discernment.

Criticize not!
The Pharisees and scribes never missed a chance to criticize Jesus. They were constantly looking for opportunities to show Jesus in bad light. They fabricated stories and distorted facts to accuse Jesus of being and doing wrong. They left no leaf unturned in finding fault with Jesus. This time they thought they got something to accuse Him of in the vivid life-style of His apostles and of Jesus Himself. They did not conform to the standard of “being religious”. They judge Him as a glutton and pervert. His band of disciples do not exhibit religious discipline, they accused. But, Jesus is unmoved by criticism. He had already made it clear to His disciples not to judge others. The one who judges others brings about judgment on himself.

There is this story of a young professional and her husband migrated to Sydney for their job. They moved into a house in a subdivision. As they were dining she looked through the window and saw the laundry line of her neighbors. She noticed that the laundry were not done properly, the clothes looked stained and soiled. On the following day, as she looked through the window she saw the same sight, the woman in her neighboring house was spreading laundry for drying. She was dismayed to notice that the clothes looked not clean. She thought to herself, may be this neighbor does not know how to do laundry. Why does she not consult someone to improve her job? May be somebody needs to call her attention that she is not doing a good job. She brought this to her husband. On the following day, the woman was taken by surprise as she looked through the window and found a very clean and neat laundry line outside. She shared her surprise with her husband and said, “see, it is incredible. Something has happened, our neighbor seems to have learned their lesson. Now their laundry looks so clean. May be somebody has called their attention!”. Her husband looked at her and said, “yes, something has happened. This morning I cleaned our window pane. Now you can see clearly the objects outside”.

What you see outside is a reflection of what you are within. Jesus said, “if your eyes are sound, your whole body is in light”. Indeed, the more imperfect you are, the more imperfections you will find in others. The itch to criticize indicates the infection of imperfection within.

Do not Compare:
The Pharisees and scribes found Jesus and His companions unacceptable because they did not conform to others. They were not like the group of John or of the Pharisees. Jesus showed how unique He is. The best formula for an unsatisfied and unhappy life is to compare yourself with others and to compare others with yourself or else one.

God does not compare two people, he created them unique. God is delighted not when I try to be like others, but when I try to be who truly I am. Be myself. Know my potentials and weaknesses. Know my abilities and talents.

Have discernment:
For everything there is an appropriate time. For everyone there is an appropriate destiny. There is time for everything. Discernment is a spiritual principle that helps me do the right thing in the right time in the right manner. Jesus was a person of discernment. He knew when to be with the crowd and when to be in solitude. He knew when to preach and when to act.