A point about “the judging”, as Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
memorably put it. “As God is my judge” was an old oath-like phrase. And most of
us have an image of such judgement, whether Michelangelo’s or otherwise.
At yesterday’s Gaudete Mass, however, our small hyperactive
Algerian priest made a point in his homily that I found interesting, and
perhaps consoling, enough to share. The Epistle reading was James 5:9 “Grudge
not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge
standeth before the door.” And Fr Jean-Kamel said: “Don’t get this wrong. God
will not judge you. God does not judge. God only loves. It is you who will
judge you. How? Because God will confront you, as you are, with the immensity,
the glory and the absoluteness of His love. And when He does that, you will
judge yourself. And if and when you have judged yourself, you will be forgiven, and
accepted, and loved.” Rather breathtaking, I thought. Possibly heretical? But
when you think it through it makes sense, even orthodoxly. Food for thought;
and for rejoicing. Perhaps.
