Lest You Remain

3 Contemplate that the Lord so appreciates unity and accord, that when He real- ized that the disciples were gathered in unity, He immediately appeared among them. Unity grows with accord. Where there is unity there is love. And when there is true love, there must be Jesus, who is pure Love. Any time you break the bonds of love or disturb unity, you exclude Christ and remove Him from among His disciples, and your brothers. ( Inspectio Cordis ) 4 By “brother” you should understand, any man, and particularly, “brothers in the faith” (cf. Gal 6:10). Ponder then, whether you are, “of one heart and one mind” with everyone (cf. Acts 4:32); whether you are not unpleasant to anyone, or whether out of excessive devotion, you do not charge or accuse anyone. Why do you stand in the way of somebody’s promotion? Why don’t you rejoice over the abilities and talents of others? Why don’t you support their progress to perfection? Why do you treat some with hard feelings? Why do you address them with blunt and bitter words? ( Inspectio Cordis ) 5 “Whoever would say . . . you, fool” (cf. Mt 5:22). Pay attention, how harmful it is, to contemplate the mistakes of others, and to exaggerate them, while we should not care about them at all. May you never harshly attack others but rather, realizing their imperfections, attribute them to yourself, saying: “He learned this evil from me, since I was the first to fall through these mistakes; I am a source of deprivation for him; this is my vice not his; I can see it in myself, not in my brother. How much I should strive to correct in myself, the shortcomings I realize in my brothers! What a deceitful, ungrateful and careless creature I am! My Lord, if you do not help me I will perish.” “Restore me, O God our savior, and abandon your displeasure against us” (cf. Ps 84:5). ( Inspectio Cordis ) L EST Y OU R EMAIN W ITHOUT W ORK IN THE V INEYARD OF THE L ORD 162