The Greatest Sin
By DEACON ANTHONY BARRASSO
Many words have lost their meaning and impact in our age of defining all things with the paint-brush of personal freedom. Gender is what I choose it to be, murder has become the right of a pregnant woman if she so chooses, homosexual relationships are called marriage, police who choose to enforce the law are now the criminals, and abortion factories are called clinics. Some churches no longer mention the word sin out of fear of offending a sinner like me — but sin does exist, and today the greatest sin of all has raised its head.
Some time ago, an individual came to me with a very serious moral problem. This happened where we worked. I was in charge of the employee-assistance program. Correction: I was the employee-assistance program for a certain police department. His behavior was affecting not only his life, but also the lives of all around him. Commonsense introspection and spiritual direction were his immediate need. He was not a Christian but did believe in God — and we all carried weapons.
He was married, committed adultery, and then forced the woman he had an affair with to have an abortion. His wife had no knowledge of the adultery. I gave him what I thought was sound and Christian advice, a path that was clear and easy to follow. Moreover, if he followed my advice, he and those around him would experience a great lessening of stress and tension in their lives. A great plus for anyone who carries a gun and is surrounded by others who carry a gun.
If he had been a Catholic, I would have sent him to a priest to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I also advised him to break his relationship with the woman that he was having an affair with. What I didn’t know was that in his eyes, I had committed the greatest sin possible: I had made a judgment concerning a moral issue. I had never given much thought of this judgmental phase of service until this incident. I did know that in the confessional, a priest must often make judgments about the behavior of the penitent.
After I had given this officer the advice he had asked for, his eyes narrowed into small lines. He pointed a finger at my face and said, “You are being judgmental!” I said, “Did you not come to me for advice and a judgment?” He had already determined that he would not leave his paramour. The next day he made certain that the Chief knew that I had committed the “greatest sin.”
There is a cloud that hovers above our heads even when we go to great lengths to seek advice from another person concerning a personal need. The cloud obscures the good intentions of both parties. The one seeking “judgment” often has his or her mind made up as to what is best. The “judge” does not wish to offend or appear to be too harsh. The results are poor. The anti-judgmental cloud can also set our teeth grinding and our blood boiling even if the advice given is perfect — simply because it was not the advice we wanted to hear. St. Augustine notes that truth can bring forth hatred.
“Simply because truth is so loved that whosoever love anything else would have that to be truth which they love. And because they are not willing to be deceived, they are not willing to be convinced that they were in error. Therefore, they hate the truth for the sake of that thing which they love instead of the truth. They love the truth when it shines upon them; they hate it when it contradicts them” (The Confessions, n. 255).
The anti-judgment attitude is nothing new. Human nature rebels at the thought of being criticized, of being accused, yet, we seek and we need direction especially in matters that are of great concern to our souls. We do not undergo painful and necessary surgery without seeking the judgment of someone who is expert in such matters. However, we become evasive and even resentful when our behavior is scrutinized. We hide in the “bushes,” the greenery that we think surrounds our lives. Adam even blamed God for his own sins by saying, “The woman whom you put here with me — she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it” Gen. 3:12). The woman said that she was tricked by the devil (Gen. 3:13). Cain excused himself after he murdered his brother by saying he was not responsible for his brother’s well-being (Gen. 4:9). Many of the scribes and Pharisees when confronted by Truth Himself, chose to hide behind the robes of Abraham as if their lineage excused them from their sinful lives. Often it is painful to see what we already know about ourselves.
Many of us are like the rich young man who approached our Lord seeking eternal life. We want to hear words that confirm the good that we think of ourselves. The Lord tells him to keep the Commandments, which he was doing. Then He takes him on step further. If he wanted to be perfect, sell everything, give to the poor and follow Him. He was confronted with the fact, that though he had much, including a very moral life-style, he was still lacking in perfection (Matt. 19:16-22). He did not receive the answer that he thought he would receive. He was not as perfect as he thought he was.
The anti-judgement cloud of today and perhaps of every age, is seeded by two extremes of thought: first, there is the unqualified belief that the individual conscience must reign supreme in all situations; second, there is the mistaken notion that because God is all-merciful, we who are not so merciful, should not be making judgments concerning the behavior of our fellowman. Does he not have the right to follow the dictates of his own conscience? The word “judgment” has taken on an almost evil connotation itself because of these extremes. The greatest sinners then, are those who are judgmental, those who dare to distinguish the differences between virtue and sin.
Socrates, the Athenian philosopher, regarded conscience as an inner voice having its origin in God. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius believed that reason was the divinity in man expressing itself as conscience. Freud believed that conscience was found in the super ego formed by the parents’ notion of right or wrong. Christian Revelation and thought, however, have given man new insights into the mystery of conscience.
In the Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon, SJ, defines conscience as “The judgement of the practical intellect deciding from general principles of faith and reason, the goodness or badness of a way of acting that a person now faces.” Conscience is not infallible; it is open to error. We are responsible for the education of our conscience. An act is not right or wrong because of public opinion, or because of the way we feel about a certain act, or because of what we will or desire. Furthermore, Fr. Hardon states, “…conscience does not determine on its own (the goodness or badness of an act), receiving it (the decision) as given by the Author of nature and divine grace.” A misinformed conscience can lead us into darkness and slavery.
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, whenever we make a judgment, we make a statement or decision concerning a human action. Judgment is born from the virtue of justice which tells us that we should render to everyone what is due them. Justice as a virtue in a person is aware of and observes the rights of all. A good judgment then is a statement or decision that is based on and takes into account the rights of all. This does not exclude God. The rights of every person are found in the natural law which is the eternal and moral law. If a judgment, conclusion, or man-made law is perverse, unjust, flawed, erroneous, and immoral (ST II II, 57-60), it is to be rejected.
We are obliged to make judgments based on the virtue of justice and God’s unchangeable laws. Bishops, priests, deacons, parents, government leaders, legislators, and everyone who has reached the age of reason, have the twofold obligation of educating their own conscience, and instilling in those placed under their charge, the virtue of justice based on a rightly and morally formed conscience. This may require or perhaps even demand that the person so entrusted be judgmental in the imparting of information that will affect human behavior.
The anti-judgment cloud obscures revealed faith and the principles of morality. It undermines the God-given role of the Magisterium as the teacher and guardian of religious and moral truth. It brings darkness and pain wherever it is practiced. The cloud becomes a virtue in the eyes of those who have made of themselves gods. The Commandments, the natural law, and virtue, have no meaning to those whose minds are closed to Truth. Many of these “self-made gods” rule from high places and deform almost everything. Many of us even call them “benefactors” provided they do not judge us.
Thanks to a nonjudgmental attitude that has enveloped the world, abortion, the murder of the unborn is a “right,” two men may marry, a teen age girl may choose to have her body mutilated if she decides that that she is a male, and no one may dare say it is all evil because it may be judgmental.
Jesus did say that if someone does wrong we are to confront that person. If he listens, we have won our brother back. If he does not listen, we are to confront him again. If he still refuses to listen, we are to tell it publicly. If he continues doing what is wrong we should treat him like a pagan (Matt. 18:15-17). I once wrote to a female senator regarding the evil of abortion. The pagan senator responded, “You cannot legislate morality.” I wrote back, “You, however, can and do legislate immorality.” I never heard from her again.
The narcissist loves his own reflection and resents judgments that go against his own feelings, experience, and morality. He seeks those who will affirm all that he is. He ignores any truth outside of himself. He is his own guiding light. Our Lord said that if the light inside us is darkness, then how great that darkness must be (Matt. 6:23). If these individuals govern nations, then those nations can drown in the pitch-blackness of the “light” that they think they have.
The relativist builds his house on the muddy and sandy foundation of flexibility, adaptation, and change. Truth is always dependent on the individual or group that happens to be proposing that truth. It is important that the proposed truth be popular at the moment. The relativist can adapt to any change that is convenient or popular. He is a chameleon, always changing the color of his belief so that it may blend with whatever is in vogue. He ignores the fact that revealed truth is not relative to time or place. We cannot serve two or three masters without ending up hating one or two (Matt. 6:24).
A clever stratagem that is often used by those who resent the light of truth is to quote Scripture, especially Matt. 7:1-12. Our Lord tells His followers not to judge others unless they themselves wish to be judged. This is true. It is also true that those of us who are justly concerned about what is morally right or wrong do not make a practice of judging others. Even when we have removed the beam from our own eye, even if splinters remain, most of us would hesitate in judging another person. Yet it is simply impossible to live life without being judgmental about what is right or wrong behavior. Our Lord tells us that only by observing the fruit of a tree can we know what is good and what is bad (Matt. 7:15-20). Wolves dress like sheep to deceive us. We must judge their works.
Supernatural truths certainly have something to do with judgment. What we believe does determine how we behave. Our Christian vocation demands that we be judgmental, that we choose Truth over man’s fabrications, and we must not remain silent when justice demands that we speak.
There is a hunger in the world for the truth who is Christ, the Christ who is nailed to the Cross. There are broken hearts, lives, and spirits, who long for the healing truth who is Christ. There are sinners in the world who do not see or recognize the Truth hanging on the cross for each one of us. There are Catholics and a multitude of Christians who have never found the Truth of Love crucified for them. How shall they ever come to know the Way, the Truth, and the Life and Love who is Christ, unless we are judgmental and dare to commit the “greatest sin”?
