Page 221 - spiritual_accompaniment_montreal_archdiocese

HOMILIES

Learn to see the goodness in the other! It is very easy to see problems in others, but it is more
challenging to see the problems they see in us. Often, when someone asks us what we can do
better in our life, we find it hard to respond. Perhaps we need to take the time for a week-long
retreat to discover what we need to improve in ourselves, because we are not able to respond
right away!

But when it is the opposite, when it is about saying what others need to do to improve them-
selves, we will not hesitate to let them know. In life, we seem to know quickly what others
need to do to improve themselves, but we do not know what we ourselves need to do.

Thus, growing in humility is really a long process. At the same time, it can be the fastest work
to make us humble before others, because humility lets us see others as a gift from God. It
lets us see the other as a human nature created in the image of God. Humility lets us see the
other person as called to become a child of God. Humility makes us capable of seeing others
with all their natural capacities, beyond their limits, beyond their fragilities, their sins, their
difficulties, beyond the misunderstandings and disagreements. Finally, humility gives us a
new way of seeing that safeguards our capacity to see the true, the beautiful, and the good in
the heart of the other.

Having proper self-understanding permits us to recognize that we have received all. It
permits us to truly see the other, and this way of seeing gives us the ability to learn how to
appreciate the good that is in the other.

Understanding that we have received everything, keeping this attitude towards the other,
being capable to see the good and the capacity for the good that is the other, lets us experience
the fruits of gentleness.

Fruits of gentleness let us confront the difficulties in life, the difficulties and hardships in life
whose existence we cannot deny. For this reason, we are more than ever in need of gentleness
in our life so that we can face life’s hardships.

This hardness of life, we are very close to it and very aware of it in this pandemic. At the same
time, we can recognize in gentleness what we receive, we can easily see the gentleness of God
who strengthens us against the hardships of life. But, with his grace, we are capable to give
what we received, to be gentle and patient with one another.

The confinement period completely changed our habits. We used to be with many people, at
work or even in our extended family. Due to physical distancing, we see each other much less
frequently.

(cont’d)

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 221