Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings

Today’s gospel reading from Matthew’s account on the Sermon on the Mount always makes a lot of sense to us. It’s no secret that human beings are prone to judging others. And we probably can think of lots of examples of people who seem quick to judge others while completely failing to notice their own shortcomings. These people can be particularly annoying; we wonder how they can be so critical of others and not of themselves. But of course, this observation is not the point of today’s gospel reading. Jesus’ comments are directed toward each one of us. In other words, Jesus suggests that you and I are often judge others while failing to see our own problems. “But…” we want to say, “so and so really does have more flaws than I do…” In an objective sense, it may be true. But Jesus doesn’t want us to set up charts and tables listing everybody else’s faults. He wants us to be more aware of our own. He even seems to indicate that the time we spend concentrating on others’ weaknesses may prevent us both from identifying our own problems and from helping others with their problems.

Today, let us take these words of Jesus to heart. The message is straightforward and simple: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged” (Mt. 7:1). How do we judge others? How do we fail to see our own failings? A big part of the Christian tradition is looking within ourselves for these weaknesses and confessing them as sins that we may receive God’s grace to strengthen ourselves against our common temptations. Hence in addition to examining our lives for judgmental behavior, we might also want to commit to partaking in the sacrament of reconciliation sometime in the next few weeks. This sacrament is instrumental in helping us to see ourselves and others more clearly.

- Maria Morrow