Being Judgemental

I have a confession. Let me preface this by saying that I am not normally a judgmental person. I actually think I’m pretty understanding of people in the world realizing that people sin and if it were not for the grace of God I could very easily be in their position. Ohhhh, sure, I might see a car with an Obama bumper sticker and think, “idiot.” But even then I move on.
But a couple of months ago, I had the realization that there is a time and place that I find myself be ing judgmental of other people. And sadly, that’s at mass. That’s horrible isn’t it? I found myself questions peoples goals, motives, dress, etc etc. The more I think about it and writing it down on paper I find myself even more embarrassed about it.
At my last meeting with my spiritual director, I brought up this revelation and Fr. Mike pointed out something to me. He said that we should not judge other peoples motives for being at church. We need to realize that God’s grace works in many ways and just the fact that they are there means that His grace is working.
That realization made an impact on me and I realized that while I may be a Catholic Geek I’m hardly pious or an Uber Catholic. I am probably, maybe a little above average and that’s only because the average Catholic does not attend mass regularly. Since then, I’ve changed my gaze on those who ARE much more pious than me. My eyes have been opened to the people who attend mass daily and have great devotions. I need to model myself off of them, concentrate on my own failings, and work on my own prayer life instead of questioning others motives.
It’s very easy for us, due to pride, to think that we are at a higher level than we are. We need to pray for humility so we can see where we need to go.