"Criticism is easy; it is within everyone's reach. A pessimistic nature easily finds the defects and shortcoming in others. But everyone, without exception, has defects. Even the saint needed a lifetime to become Christ-like, to become perfect 'as our heavenly Father is perfect.'
"Keeping an account of people's faults is a fruitless task. Not only are you showing your pride and ill-will, but you are also wasting your time.
"To remember a person's defects is to hold onto the past and to concentrate on that person's worst side, as if no other existed! No one's life is frozen; everyone is constantly evolving, changing, growing. You must concentrate your entire attention of the present and the future rather than the past.
"One who has sinned, but who bears his or her past with sorrow may be a saint today or will become one tomorrow. Such a person may make swifter progress on the road toward holiness than me. While I waste my time and strength criticizing and complaining about others, those who seemed to me to be further behind on the road are setting out and moving forward quickly and soon will have gone beyond me."
~Cardinal François Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận
Dear Lord, please help me to stop judging and to start loving. Amen!
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