“Lord, if you don't need my good name, what should I want it for?” (Saint Josemaría).
In the 12th century the Catholic Church set up a powerful office called the Inquisition to punish heresy in Europe and the Americas, and this office continued to operate for hundreds of years.
The inquisition was in fact a very violent and often corrupt institution. And in the 17th century, two soldiers of the Inquisition were sent to escort an eighty-six-year-old priest from his residence to the prisons of the Inquisition.
The priest’s name was Joseph of Calasanz and he was the founder of the Religious Order of the Piarists. His arrest by the Inquisitors was based on false accusations made against him. He was taken from his home without even being given enough time to collect his hat, and he walked slowly and shakily (given his advanced age). Witnesses commented on his calmness. They spoke of watching the stooping old man walking slowly and calmly to the prison.
In fact, Father Joseph remained so calm during the process of his interrogation that he actually fell asleep at one point during the interrogation! Eventually he was removed from the Institution he had founded and soon afterwards, he died.
Some years after his death, the false accusation was revealed and Joseph of Calasanz became SAINT Joseph of Calasanz.
And I have been reflecting on the calmness of this saint as I have been going about my day. You see, there is a certain calmness that comes into a soul as a mark of the Holy Spirit. This calmness – this peace – is otherworldly. It is this calmness that causes a soul to feel free and peaceful when even the most terrible things are happening to that soul.
And that calmness can only come when a soul worries ONLY about the opinion of God – and not the false accusations of neighbours.
Christ berated the Pharisees for being hypocritical. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:23-26).
And the Saints understood that it is God and God alone who matters.
Once – after being misunderstood by many people within the Church – Saint Josemaría wrote to the bishop, “I don't have any tears left for crying.” Then, one night as the Saint was praying and keeling before the Tabernacle, he said, “Lord, if You don't need my good name, what should I want it for?”
It was this way with Saint Joseph of Calasanz as well.
And though today there is no longer a corrupt Institution within the Church called the Inquisition, there is still an “inquisition” of sorts in the world. You see, my friends, and neighbours – and even the strangers on the street – look at me and see the miserableness of my state. And they judge me, just as Saint Joseph of Calasanz was judged – though I am more deserving of their judgement than that Saint ever was…
And so today, as I consider all the people who have an unflattering opinion about me – the people who have witnessed my every humiliating fault and who have judged me lacking – I know that I must walk calmly as Saint Joseph of Calasanz did.
For if my Beloved has no need of my good reputation… “What should I want it for?”
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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