Laura Yeager on Judging Others at Mass

"Recently, a young woman came to Mass pushing a huge double baby carriage. In it were three children, all very young. The twin girls were in the two seats, one in the front and one in the back. They looked to be perhaps eighteen months old. A slightly older child, another girl, rode in the carriage’s little bin in the back of the stroller. The woman's fourth child, an older girl of about six, walked beside her.

"The whole lot found a seat at the back of the church, in a pew that was behind the main row of pews. . . .

"As the Mass proceeded, I peeked over and examined the family, and was impressed. The four children were exceptionally well behaved. They sat quietly in the stroller, or in the pew, and seemed to understand the sacredness of the occasion.

"Then, I noticed that the little one in the front seat of the stroller wasn’t wearing shoes. It was the middle of October! My eyebrows went up, and I began to judge the woman. Bad mother; no shoes on the kids.

"I couldn't stop myself from staring. When Tommy was little, I had always gone out of my way to make a good impression: his shoes were polished; he was appropriately dressed, with hair trimmed and face washed.

"As I continued to pay more attention to this mother's negligence than the Mass, I remembered being in a store, once, with Tommy. He was about ten months old and had a very bad cold. His nose was running. Heavily. I didn’t have any tissue. A clerk in the store gave me the dirtiest look, and I felt like I could read her thoughts: How could I let the mucus drip down my child's face like that? Why didn't I go into the public restroom and procure some toilet paper to solve the problem? Bad mother; not wiping that kid’s messy nose.

"It's so easy to judge. But when we are judging, we are forgetting how hard life is, sometimes, and how none of us can have it together every second of every day."

In a recent commentary, writer Laura Yeager reflected on the effects of judging others while at Mass and elsewhere.

To access Ms. Yeager's complete post, please visit:

Aleteia: What If Everyone at Mass Is Busy Judging Everyone Else? (19 JAN 16)