From Archbishop Donoghue

Dear Sisters, and Dear Friends in Christ,

If we were to stand before the Lord, and ask Him, "Lord, what is your best advice for someone who wishes to be successful in community life?", I cannot imagine Him coming up with any better answer than the advice we have heard in today's Gospel. "Judge not, lest you be judged."

This is advice we hear for the first time when we are young - it is advice we carry with us through the years of our growth and into the years of our maturity - and I suspect, that you will agree, it is advice we are all still trying to follow, even after many years have passed, even after we have grown old. And perhaps it is not so much in the accomplishing, but in the trying, that we achieve the goal of living our Lord's advice. For we know that no matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfect - but as Catholics, and as people seriously committed to our religious vows, we know that we cannot abandon the quest for perfection. It is so very difficult to see the actions of others, especially when we do not agree, without rushing, if only in our minds, to judgement. And our Lord certainly knew this, as He knew everything about human nature, except sin itself. But what He really is encouraging us to do, with these statements about not judging, and about expecting to receive what we mete out - what He is encouraging us to do is to judge ourselves. "How can you say to your brother," He says, " 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye?" And later in this same chapter of Matthew, He makes it explicit. "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets."

Such is the advice of our Lord to those who would perfect their life in religion, and it is advice that we must carry with us every day, for every day we must encounter the conduct of other people, and know that they are encountering us.

Our Lord also clearly teaches us the motivation to which we must cling, as we understand that our desire for life with Him necessarily removes us from much that occupies and interests the world - and this is especially important for those who have chosen the life of the cloister. It is when He issues this strong commandment: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces."

The gift that each of you has made to the Lord is the pearl of your person-hood, the precious jewel of your vowed virginity. Once you have made this gift, it belongs to you and to the Lord alone. It is not so much that anyone else is a dog, or that other people outside vows similar to yours are swine. But it is true, that once the commitment is made, once the vows are solemnly professed, then the commitment made to the Lord can never be replaced with anything so fine or so precious, as His love. It is marriage par excellence, and its children are the spiritual gifts gained for and shared with the Church, by those who are professed to this singular and exclusive way of life. For those who make such a marriage with the Lord, the thought of anything else is impossible - as impossible as casting precious pearls into the mud, as impossible as exposing what is holy to the wrath of mad dogs.

And finally, when we encounter trouble, when we succumb to feelings of resentment or disapproval or judgement of others, or when we feel the tug of the world and think to ourselves, "This life is too demanding, too much to sustain, and I cannot go on," our Lord says this: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

This might be difficult to believe, if it were not for the evidence we see around us. And without trespassing on that sacred intimacy which exists between each bride of Christ and her Lord, we see and celebrate this evidence today, in the person of one who has lived this life, who has faced these challenges, and who has steadfastly come through the trials on the arm of her Lord for fifty years. It is no offense against holy modesty, for us to recognize this achievement, and to take encouragement from one, who has, by obedience and patience, attained to this longevity of religious life - from one who has, by making herself a vessel for the Lord's love, brought so much of that love to her community, and to her Church.

Dear Sisters, let us review daily the advice of our Lord that comes from the Gospel - His lessons in community living - His Holy Rule - "Judge notÉcast not your pearls before swineÉdo unto others what you would have them do unto you." And let us thank Him for using us - even if we are all unaware - for using us, in our weakness and in our strength, to light the path and help lead others to the Truth, and to His holy love.

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