Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

Scripture Readings

I often get called in to settle a dispute between my children. They come to me because one feels wronged and they are seeking judgment. Judgment is a major theme in today's readings.

As we start considering judgment I want to call our attention to a trend C.S. Lewis notes in his book on the Psalms. He posited that the Psalms can feel like a strange book to a Christian because the word judgment is being used differently. Christians tend to speak of judgment in a way that fears the consequences of our sin and from the perspective of God judging us against the perfect standard of obedience, namely Jesus Christ. Whereas judgment in the Psalms is being written about differently. For most Psalms, we are not sitting in a criminal trial with us as the defendant and God as Judge, Jury, and Prosecutor. No, for the Psalms it is a civil dispute between the people of Israel and those who have wronged them. They cry out for judgment against those who have wronged them instead of fearing judgment from God, whom we have all wronged.

Jesus tells us not to judge. As Jesus has come as the fulfillment of the Law we are left face-to-face with how tilted our judgment would be. This brings his measuring language into it as well. Jesus has shown us we are not reliable judges, we are not accurate rulers, we are not balanced measures. Our portions are lopsided and our hearts and eyes are skewed to favor ourselves. We are unfit to judge and should not call upon judgment because of our inability.

We are still to discern between right and wrong. We are still called to offer counsel. We can still have laws and seek justice. We can name sins and virtues. But we cannot invoke God as our bailiff coming to enforce my judgment.

May the Holy Spirit descend upon us and slow our hearts and tongues from making hasty judgments that violate Jesus' words in the Sermon on the mount.

- Spencer Hargadon