In the earliest days of the first Conference, members read passages from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis for the spiritual reflection at their meetings. [175, to Lallier, 1838] The second-best selling book of all time, save for the Bible, The Imitation of Christ is sometimes referred to as a “fifth gospel.”
For Vincentians, our “imitation” means that, even as we see Christ in the neighbor, we also “try to be Jesus for others.” [Manual, 54] Indeed, our very founding began with Frédéric’s declaration that “we must do what Our Lord Jesus Christ did… Let us go to the poor.” [Baunard, 65] Blessed Frédéric pointed out that, while St. Vincent “is a model one must strive to imitate”, that is primarily because “he himself imitated the model of Jesus Christ.” [175, to Lallier, 1838]
We are called in both the Old Testament and the New to be holy, as God is holy, to be merciful, as God is merciful, and even to be perfect, as the Father is perfect. Certainly, then, our Corporal Works of Mercy, in direct response to Christ’s teaching, are the beginning of our imitation. In doing as He asked, as He calls us to do, as He did Himself, we participate in and receive God’s grace, which fills our hearts with joy even in the midst of our work. To imitate Christ is not only to do these works, but to do them “for love alone, without thinking of any reward or advantage for [ourselves].” [Rule, Part I, 2.2]
Yet in imitating the Divine Goodness we do not put ourselves in the place of God. Time and time again, the Prophets, the Apostles, and Christ Himself tell us imitate God’s mercy, His holiness, and His love, but not once does it tell us to imitate His judgment. Instead, Christ promises that it is God who will judge us as we judge others. “The measure with which you measure,” Jesus says, “will be measured out to you.”
And so, we do not judge those we serve. [Rule, Part I, 1.9] This can be difficult at times, because it is easy to judge others by the standards of our own lives; it is difficult at times, for us to understand how others fail to make the same choices that all of our personal experience counsels against. How difficult must it be for our Lord, who wants us to be like Him, to see us fall short time, and time, and time again? Our judgment is not equal to God’s judgment, so He promises that His judgment will follow ours, but, as St. James tells us, “mercy triumphs over judgment.”
The way to salvation is not the broad road and the wide gate, but the narrow path and the narrow gate. Perhaps, in calling us to “go to the poor”, Bl. Frédéric shows us that the narrow path can be found on the broken sidewalks and dimly-lit stairways that lead us to the door of our neighbor in need.
Contemplate
Do I seek to choose the mercy I wish to receive over the judgment I am sometimes quick to make?
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