We are often indifferent to our brethren who are distressed or upset, on the grounds that they are in this state through no fault of ours. The Doctor of souls, however, wishing to root out the soul's excuses from the heart, tells us to leave our gift and to be reconciled not only if we happen to be upset by our brother, but also if he is upset by us, whether justly or unjustly; only when we have healed the breach through our apology should we offer our gift.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for our relationships and reconciling with others, regardless of who is at fault.
In this quote, John Cassian addresses the tendency of individuals to dismiss the emotional struggles of others, particularly when they believe those struggles are not their responsibility. He emphasizes the moral duty to acknowledge and mend relationships, even if the distress of another person seems unjustified. By advising us to prioritize reconciliation and personal accountability over our own grievances, Cassian highlights the virtue of empathy and communal harmony.
In practice
In a speech about fostering community support during difficult times.
If you wish to attain to true knowledge of the Scriptures, hasten to acquire first an unshakeable humility of heart. That alone will lead you, not to the knowledge that puffs up, but to that which enlightens, by the perfecting of love.
...we must first scrutinize thoroughly anything appearing in our hearts or any saying suggested to us. Has it come purified from the divine and heavenly fire of the Holy Spirit? Or does it lean toward Jewish superstition? Is its surface piety something which has come down from bloated worldly philosophy? We must examine this most carefully, doing as the apostle bids us: 'Do not believe in every spirit, but make sure to find out if spirits are from God'.
The Doctor of our souls has placed the remedy in the hidden regions of the soul.
The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it.
Men are always doomed to be duped, not so much by the arts of the other as by their own imagination. They are always wooing goddesses, and marrying mere mortals.
No human mind can comprehend all the knowledge which guides the actions of society.
Regarded zoologically, man is today an almost isolated figure in nature. In his cradle, he was less isolated.
What is the right of the huntsman to the forest of a thousand miles over which he has accidentally ranged in quest of prey? Shall the fields and vallies, which a beneficent God has formed to teem with the life of innumerable multitudes, be condemned to everlasting barrenness?
It's so different to be a sparrow. But nobody asked this rat if he wanted to be a rat when he was made. Nobody said, 'Wouldn't you rather be a sparrow?
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