Love and judgement

I've noticed lately that people seem to think they need to explain themselves to me. I wonder if I come off as a terribly judgmental person? I really try not to be (even though it would be so easy sometimes); I try to keep the following verses in mind when I'm confronted with someone who does things differently than I do:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (1 Cor. 13: 1-3)

I chose a non-Catholic college and I knew that here I would find people that do things very differently than I do. My friends have diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and practices, but I can't bring myself to judge them for what they do. I don't feel that I have room to until the day that I do things perfectly. Which, as we all know, isn't going to happen this side of heaven. I am a fallen human being and I struggle with my tendency to sin, although most of the time my pride hides it from the people around me. I'm sure I'm as difficult to live with as the next person, though I don't often see it. I get frustrated with people in my classes, but I have to remind myself that to them, I might be "that girl" that irritates them to no end and about whom they talk to their friends: "You'll never believe what SHE did/said in class today!" I realize that that makes me sound paranoid, but I'm not, I promise. I just have to have something to keep my own vanity in check.

The bottom line? Credo in unum Deum, patrem omnipotentem... ("I believe in God, the Father Almighty...) and all that reciting that statement of faith means. But I also know that Jesus preached love, even for tax collectors and prostitutes. And for me, the best way to evangelize is quietly, loving those who are different, because that's what is difficult. Because I think that the best thing I can do is to try to demonstrate that Catholicism is not all about the rules and regulations; those are important, but Jesus' example of love is most important of all. If He had enough love to become man, then be put to death on a cross for His creature, most of whom don't care, then I should have enough love to look past differences (not condone sin, which is totally different) and love people where they are. Because sometimes, I think people do things they ought not because they don't see themselves as worthy of love, which we all are.

I'll close with a quote from St. Anthony Mary Claret: "Love is the most necessary of all virtues. Love in the person who preaches the word of God is like fire in a musket. If a person were to throw a bullet with his hands, he would hardly make a dent in anything; but if the person takes the same bullet and ignites some gunpowder behind it, it can kill. It is much the same with the word of God. If it is spoken by someone who is filled with the fire of charity- the fire of love of God and neighbor- it will work wonders."