Lent with Bossuet – Meditations on the Gospel (11)

Source: FSSPX News

The World Will Be Judged While Judging Jesus Christ

“Now is the judgement of the world” (Jn. 12:31). How? By exercising its judgement on Jesus Christ, the world judged so badly that its judgement and its maxims will remain forever condemned.

It is true that the world will only be judged on the last day. St. Augustine, however, distinguishes here between two kinds of judgement, i.e., that of condemnation at the end of time, and that of discernment in this one. He applies to the latter these words of the Psalmist: “Judge me, oh God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy” (Ps. 43:1).

This discernment must be made clearly, in order to understand the judgement that the world has brought against Jesus Christ. The world wishes to be flattered; it does not want us to declare its vices. The world does not want us to condemn its maxims, nor does it wish that we live in an unworldly way, because in that way, we are condemning it. For this reason, the world condemned Jesus Christ.

Whoever follows the maxims through which the just man has been condemned, does not distinguish himself from the world, and is judged with it. Be attentive, Christian! Set yourself apart from the nation that is not holy, condemning within yourself, in good faith, all its maxims.