If I believe, that in my worst state of life, when our Lord converted my heart, that He would never convert another in that way, that would not be humility speaking, but pride. Pride in the fact that our Lord would only do this for me, and not another. What good is my witness to the Truth for others, in sharing what He has done for me, if it was not for all? “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”

Not everyone loves. What is love? If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

There is a point in being rigid, in which you notice every sin, and see this world and everyone in it, as a “forsaken place.” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Without total joy but only touches of joy within. When that takes place, one must always look deeper within ones self, to see that point where we once were that once hardened sinner, and where our Lord converted our hearts also. KNOWING without a doubt, He loves and seeks to convert the hearts of all, as He has ours. Remember where you came from.

I have often thought of why I was so hard on myself. Why I expected so much of myself (in the faith) and never let my self off the hook, so to speak. But in contrast, I give everyone a pass and after suggesting to others, and when they refused the suggestion, loved them anyway. Praying one day our Lord would open their hearts. It goes with we can only inform, not convert. You can lead but you can not make them drink. The best way to evangelize is to live the faith and be the example. You can’t expect others to become the example of what you yourself are not living. You can not force another soul to love our Lord. Love is part of the relationship with Him, that the soul grows to do. By doing this, growing to love Him, we learn through our own faults and His Truth, what Love is in the first place, and THEN make a “Conscious Effort” because we all have “free will”, to adhere to obedience to Him.

Its one thing to be extremely rigid with yourself. Its quite another to be rigid with others.

“the pride of believing in one’s righteousness” – Rigid = Scrupulosity: Scrupulosity: rigid, obsessive adherence to rules, codes of ethics, or guidelines.

I do not believe for a second Pope Francis is speaking about those who are proper in doctrine and liturgy. Rather, rigid in the sence of  demanding that others bring themselves up to your level, (Seeing ones self in a higher state or position) rather than accepting we are all on the same level of Love that our Lord has for us. Luke 14: 7-14 When this takes place, everything we feel is not orthodox or practical becomes the law we adhere to, and not our Lord. Its a misplaced attachment to things we all fail at from time to time and in all honestly, we know we do, and we fix it the next time. Others who are suffering from this, will be quick to condemn, and point it out, over & over & over, (Remember that one time in band camp?”) no matter how we have fixed this issue or how much time has passed.

Yes, I am finally able to comment re: Pope: ‘God calls us to be merciful and good, not rigid’