Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture Readings
Can you remember a conversation with a good friend when the subject turned to another person? Of course we all have. This happens even with the ‘church’ friends in our parish communities which may, in fact, make it all the more precarious. Covering ourselves in a false cloak of ‘Christianity’, we try to justify talking about a common acquaintance under the guise of helping or caring for them. In reality we do nothing more than judge them. Sin (or evil) always enters under cover of darkness. This is especially dangerous because, inadvertently, we create or deepen division within Christian communities. Frankly, the immediate gratification of feeling our personal superiority in these situations tempts us away from our personal identity as Christian Disciples. These missed opportunities to advance the Kingdom of God always end badly.
Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew continues the Sermon on the Mount. “Stop judging that you may not be judged.” (Mt 7:1) While Jesus is speaking, he does not give any mitigating circumstances about judging others and does not tell us that it is permissible to talk about others under the guise of caring about them or trying to solve their dilemma. Jesus simply states we are not to judge. Judgment altogether belongs to God… ‘for worthless is the help of man’. (Ps 60:13b) As in all of Jesus’ directives in the Sermon, we are called to the realization that nothing is possible for us given our own resources-- however anything (and everything!) is possible when we allow God to direct our lives. Temptation to turn away from Jesus’ prescription for being a child of the Kingdom of God (aka Sermon on the Mount) is forever present in our lives. We are not capable of the God’s benevolent judgment of other people, no matter how intelligent, holy, religious, powerful, or self-assured we are. We can never claim to know another person’s heart; only God is capable of knowing these things.
Another twist is that I may find it easy to admit I am judgmental. It is easy because I am aware of how we are all so very likely to do so. It is common. But if I think my admission mitigates the ‘wrong’ I do when I judge or somehow excuses it, I am completely deluded. Just as when I receive the sacrament of Reconciliation, acknowledging sinful patterns is only the first step. As important as my admission may be, it is the genuine willingness to change that unleashes the avalanche of God’s grace enabling me to amend my way of thinking, talking, and acting.. This day, may we call to mind the circumstances when we are most likely to engage in this behavior. May we call to mind the times we are most tempted. May we beg of God to give us the grace and strength to change. And may we extend this grace to those around us and reflect the spirit of mercy so desperately lacking in our world these days.
--Gail Lyman