Day 14 Admonition 11

 

Day 14 Admonition 11. That One Must Not Be Seduced By Bad Example.1 To the servant of God nothing should be displeasing save sin.  And no matter in what way any one may sin, if the servant of God is troubled or angered—except this be through charity—he treasures up guilt to himself. 2 The servant of God who does not trouble himself or get angry about anything lives uprightly and without sin.  And blessed is he who keeps nothing for himself, rendering “to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”3     [1]This Admonition is wanting in codex An., but is found in the Speculum Perfectionis, ed Lemmens. See Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. II, p. 84 [2] See Rom.2:5 [3] Matt. 22:21. [4] Romans 8:28 (NIV)

That one should not be seduced by bad example. Or That one must never seduce by bad example. To hate the sin but love the sinner is something I find difficult to do, especially if it is something  personal. I tend to make judgements regarding what I consider the degree of sin by which someone offends. To be so serene and faithful to God is unimaginable to me. And to give freely of all I own to God and to Country? Like his Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, Francis seems to demand the impossible yet "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." 4