THIS is the irony of
ironies. That is when one earnestly
pursues the path of holiness and does practically
everything to be
good and holy, and yet ends up the opposite of what he
wants.
This is the danger
self-righteousness. That’s when one
practically has the trappings of goodness and holiness
and yet misses
the real root of righteousness who is God. It can be so
self-deceiving
that one becomes fully convinced he is righteous.
This was well
personified by the Pharisees, scribes and
other elders during the time of Christ. They preferred to
stick to
their own ideas of goodness and holiness, their own laws
and
traditions, and went all the way not only to be
suspicious of Christ,
always finding fault in him, but also to finally crucify
him.
If one is truly
righteous with a righteousness that is a
participation of the righteousness of God, then he should
include in
his idea of goodness and holiness the essential virtues
of humility,
compassion and mercy.
He should have the
love that God manifested in Christ, the
God made man to offer us the way, truth and the real life
meant for
us. And that love includes love of one’s enemies. It’s a
love that can
go all the way to offer one’s life not only for his
friends but also
for his enemies.
Yes, it’s true that
Christ said that that there can be no
greater love than when a man lays down his life for his
friends. (cfr.
Jn 15,13) But St. Paul said that “God proves his love for
us in this:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom
5,8)
In other words, even
if we consider ourselves enemies of God
because of our sins, God continues to love us. For God,
we are all his
friends, his beloved, no matter what the circumstances
are.
In fact, if we study
closely the life of Christ, he shows
greater love, attention and concern for those who are far
from him
than for those who are already with him. This is what we
can gather in
the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the
prodigal son. He
is only harsh with those who were self-righteous who,
because of their
status, should know better but acted wrongly.
A self-righteous
person is a proud person, always feeling
superior to others. He is afflicted with the disorder
called
perfectionism. He makes himself his own god, his own
definer of what
is good and bad, moral and immoral. He can hardly stand
people who are
not like him. They can know a lot, but unfortunately that
knowledge
puffs them up rather than makes them more charitable.
Their disorder of
perfectionism usually makes them very
strict and fastidious, somehow betraying the scrupulous
kind of
conscience that they have. Because of that, they often
become
narrow-minded and rigid in their ways.
The self-righteous
persons are prone to make rash judgments
and end up bitter and irritable. It would be no wonder
that they feel
isolated like an island detached from the continent, and
any show of
sociability is simply just that, a show, an act, a
performance, devoid
of the proper substance and spirit.
They can profess
ardent if not fanatical belief in Christ,
but a Christ without the cross. They simply focus on what
they
consider as the exclusivity of truth without the
inclusivity of
charity. They prefer ideas and values over persons in
their concrete
conditions with all their charms as well as their warts.
They usually follow a
certain game plan, otherwise things
are not considered right. They are closed-minded and have
low level of
tolerance when plans are changed or unforeseen events
happen. They
abhor surprises. Because of all this, they often end up
anxious since
they know they cannot control everything.
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