Set always before thee the image of the Crucified

When you notice the fault in another, practice the opposite virtue in your own life. It would profit you much more, as well as the one you may have rashly judged, to be more aware of yourself than you are of others' weaknesses. Imagine the face of your Mother when she sees you praying fervently and going to Mass frequently. Then picture how her eyes would be filled with tears when you become too busy to visit Our Lord. She watches you dig yourself into a deeper hole of sin as prayer and penance become less and less important to you.

Look at Him, there on the cross, dying for you. Mindful of what He went through before He even got there, Jesus had every reason to be angry and unforgiving. He did not deserve to be tortured and crucified. Since His very birth, people wanted Him dead. But there from the cross, He pours out His mercy and utters, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Each time you fail to love and thus fail to obey, He cries out the same for you. "Father, forgive her. She has no idea how this is affecting her soul and those of the people around her." Grace is showered upon you on Calvary. The Spirit comes upon you and convicts you, helping you say, along with the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus, "Truly this man is the Son of God." You accept that you had a part in it all, but also that it was all done for you.

"God makes us righteous by means of faith in Jesus Christ, and this is applied to all who believe, without distinction of persons. Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; and all are graciously forgiven and made righteous through the redemption effected in Christ Jesus. For God has given Him to be the victim whose blood obtains forgiveness through faith." (Rom 3:22-25a)