A Hall of Mirrors Our community can be seen as a kind of hall of mirrors. In others, we often encounter reflections of parts of ourselves—especially the parts we have lost touch with, or would rather not see. What we react to most strongly in others can reveal something within us. When we reject or condemn those reflections, we may also be rejecting something in ourselves. In that sense, judgment becomes not only a lack of charity toward others, but also toward our own inner life. Self-Knowledge and the Inner Life This is why self-knowledge is so important. It is part of the long and often difficult journey toward genuine self-love. In prayer, as we go deeper, we begin to see ourselves more clearly. But this deeper knowledge can only take root if we are willing to accept what we see. This includes what is sometimes called the “shadow”: those underdeveloped, wounded, or even self-destructive aspects of our lives. As our love of God grows, we slowly gain the capacity to face these parts of ourselves. When we can name them and hold them in Christ, they begin to lose their power to harm us—or others. They are no longer hidden forces, but something we can bring into the light. Growth in Compassion From this comes a deeper compassion. We begin to recognize that others are struggling as we are. Their faults no longer seem entirely foreign. We see that we are all on the same path, all in need of patience, mercy, and grace. Community life then becomes less of a burden and more of a place of transformation. A Choice But this path can also be refused.If we avoid self-knowledge, if we cling to judgment, then community easily becomes a cycle of tension and opposition. Relationships grow adversarial instead of life-giving.The hall of mirrors then becomes a place of distortion, where we only see what confirms our judgments. But if we accept the work—if we allow God to guide us into truth—then those same mirrors can become a place of insight, humility, and growth in love.-Br.MD
One thing I notice time and time again that there very often seems to be single individual who gives the saint a hard time sometimes over many,many years. The Fathers of the Desert indicate that the one(s) who give us greatest grief are our greatest blessing. St Father Charles of Mount Argus of Ireland was like that. He had a fellow priest who loudly condemned him constantly. The other religious let him do so because they thought he had been given this as a duty. I envy married people for having a spouse and children to hold up the mirror. Just as I envy Religious for having their brothers or sisters in community to hold up a mirror. We are always,always the last to know. The entire world knows but not ourselves. But I suppose, the Holy Spirit finds some kind of work around for single people. I hope so.
I thought of this same pattern of persecution after watching a movie on St Philip Neri. He was relentlessly persecuted by a Cardinal at the Vatican. St Bernadette was relentlessly persecuted by a nun in her convent. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was viciously persecuted by the nuns in her convent. Of course Padre Pio endured hierarchy persecution. It is mysterious.
There was one particular nun who pushed the boat out in her nastiness to St Margaret Mary. She had the most terrible death bed with demons turning up all over the place leaving her screaming. But thanks to the saints prayers her soul was spared. But Our Lord said she would be in purgatory until the end of the World. In the case of Padre Pio it was his Archbishop who set the ball rolling. It does not have to be one person but it very often is. Judas was a case in point.
