Apparently some people believe that these pathetic children and mothers who have killed others are receiving too much sympathy and understanding. A recent letter to the Arlington Catholic Herald decried the “endless compassion” of the media regarding criminal justice and other social issues. In the Herald's July 12 issue, “The Last Moral Absolute” is said to be “don’t be judgmental.” The writer, Dr. James Hitchcock, says, “the willingness to ‘understand’ such deeds is the price which must be paid for escaping from absolute moral judgments.”
Certainly we all abhor the murder and abuse of children. We want our children to be protected. Those who would harm them must be restrained as long as they are considered dangerous by legitimate authorities. None of us wants violent, disturbed people roaming free to attack kids.
But isn’t it possible to abhor evil deeds and yet still feel some compassion, or sorrow, for the people who did them? Father Henri Nouwen, in his book The Return of the Prodigal Son, says that allowing ourselves to experience grief for the sins of the world leads us to grow in compassion and to become more like God our Father. “Grief asks me to allow the sins of the world — my own included — to pierce my heart and make me shed tears, many tears, for them… When I consider the immense waywardness of God’s children, our lust, our greed, our violence, our anger, our resentment, and when I look at them through the eyes of God’s heart, I cannot but weep and cry out in grief… To become like the Father…I have to shed countless tears and so prepare my heart to receive anyone, whatever their journey has been, and forgive them from that heart.”
To me, this is part of the radical Christianity that we are all called to practice. We have to love our enemies. We are not entitled to divide people into categories of the “good” and the “evil,” usually placing ourselves among the good. All of the judging must be left up to God. Father Nouwen refers to our violence, our anger. It is not a matter of us and them — it is all of us. Therefore, when we hear of evil deeds, we pray: “Lord, have mercy on us. Have mercy on all of us.”
Thank goodness that the judging is done by God, not by us. He understands all the fears, the ignorance, the mental limits, the desperation, the sickness, and the selfish sinfulness in each one of us. As disciples of Christ, we can trust that God who knows all will judge each of his children with justice and love.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
