“When man justifies himself, God accuses him. When man accuses himself, God justifies him” (St. Francis de Sales).
Our Father is pleased that we are honest with ourselves and that we do not close our eyes to our faults and sins. This does not mean that we should scrupulously face our weaknesses and transgressions, but that we should approach “the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb 4:16), knowing that God is always ready to forgive us when we come to Him in repentance.
To do this, we must be willing to admit our faults and have a little courage, for we are often afraid to look more closely at ourselves and easily forget that self-knowledge is fundamental to following Christ.
What have we to fear? Our Father already knows everything and is only waiting for us to come to Him and confess our sins so that He can forgive us and lift us up. But it is also fundamental what St Francis of Sales wants us to understand in today’s sentence: let us not excuse or justify ourselves before God by pretending to wash our hands. Instead, we can simply tell it like it is. We leave all the circumstances that might excuse us in the hands of the Lord, to be judged by Him. This is probably what the saint meant.
Today’s sentence reminds us of a passage in the Gospel in which Jesus makes us understand that those Pharisees who enjoy the praise and recognition of men instead of giving glory to God have already received their reward: the reward that comes from men and not from our Father.
May the Lord, in His goodness, purify us so that we may walk in His presence in holiness and righteousness (cf. Lk 1:75)!