Spiritual Passions – Invisible Wounds, But More Serious Than Physical Wounds

 The Holy Fathers teach us that spiritual passions are deeper and more dangerous than physical ones. If we see and can recognize physical ones more easily, we often hide spiritual ones under the guise of virtue, and this makes them even more difficult to heal.

In the Holy Gospel according to John, we are told how Mary anointed the Lord’s feet with very expensive ointment. Then, Judas did not openly say: “I love money,” but he spoke words that seemed good: “Why was this ointment not sold and given to the poor?” (John 12:5). This is how passion works: it hides itself under the appearance of righteousness, but in the heart it remains darkened by self-interest and malice.

This is how we are, many times. When we judge our neighbor, we do not say: “I have fallen into condemnation,” but we justify ourselves by saying that we defend the truth, that we speak in the name of justice. But, without realizing it, we put ourselves in the place of the judge and forget that this work does not belong to us.

The Lord Jesus Christ clearly showed us that He did not come to judge the world, but to save it (John 12:47). And the Scripture says that judgment is given to the Son (John 5:22). If Christ, the sinless One, did not come to condemn, how dare we, who are full of weaknesses, judge others?

The passion of judging our neighbor is one of the most subtle and dangerous. It feeds pride, cools the heart, and breaks the love between people. Man ends up believing that he serves the truth, when in fact he falls into the sin of condemnation.

We love the truth when it is spoken about others, but we are troubled when someone points out our mistakes. This shows that we do not truly love the truth, but use it to elevate ourselves and lower others.

Therefore, we must be attentive to our inner life. The soul is more precious than the body, and its wounds are deeper. Spiritual passions – pride, judgment, vainglory – can lose the soul if they are not healed by repentance and humility.

Let us therefore examine ourselves and pray to God to give us a pure and humble heart. Let us learn to be silent instead of judging, to forgive instead of condemning, and to see our own mistakes before looking at those of others.

Only in this way will we be able to walk on the path of salvation, guarding our souls from passions and remaining in the love of God.

Amen.

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