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We should have charity for the manual labor of others. Manual labor is a
necessity. The ability brought to it differs; all are not suited to the particular
tasks which they are called upon to do. Consequently, what is accomplished will
vary according to ability, natural aptitude, or training; sometimes perfect, now
more or less imperfect. It is not the perfection of the work alone that counts; it is
the spirit in which it was done, the effort with which it was done, the motive
used for doing it. Spirit and effort and motive do not imply that any set work
should therefore be perfect. Yet how quick we sometimes are to accept
complainingly what another has done, especially when it affects us in any way.
Looking at how it could have been done and perhaps better done we fail to give
the due credit by refusing to see the spirit behind it all, the effort put forth, and
the motive governing it. When another is allowed to do what we wanted to do,
envy comes along to tempt us, trying to make us feel sad if that work is done
well, or trying to make us rejoice if it is done poorly. We can be so uncharitable
in this regard.
God wants Saints; God desires perfection. Piety should be held in high
esteem; so should rule-keeping, obedience, mortification, and every other
virtue. It is a woefully sad state of affairs when anyone is ridiculed for his
goodness. It would be a deplorable condition if we tried to keep anyone from
becoming holy. It would be even worse to endeavor to pull one down from a
high standard that he has acquired. Envy wants failure. There are those who
have kept others from being good; and there are those who sneered at another’s
goodness, so that he fell; there are those who have wilfully and deliberately
tempted others by trying to make them disobey, or lie, or cheat, or give up their
mortifications, etc. Do we bear any guilt in this matter?
There should be charity for the intellectual life of others. Give credit to
those to whom it is due. Praise those who excel. Be sympathetically kind to
those who are not doing well. Be considerate of those who make mistakes. We
should want what every teacher desires — a perfect standard on the part of each
member of a class. Let us be fair and just in what we think and say about the
intellectual life of others.
Let not their success be our sorrow; nor their failures, our joy. Envy not,
but be charitable.
Father Faber gives the following rules for the practice of fraternal charity: