Jesus said to his disciples:“To you who hear I say, love your enemies,do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,pray for those who mistreat you.To the person who strikes you on one cheek,offer the other one as well,and from the person who takes your cloak,do not withhold even your tunic.Give to everyone who asks of you,and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.Do to others as you would have them do to you.For if you love those who love you,what credit is that to you?Even sinners love those who love them.And if you do good to those who do good to you,what credit is that to you?Even sinners do the same.If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,what credit is that to you?Even sinners lend to sinners,and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,and lend expecting nothing back;then your reward will be greatand you will be children of the Most High,for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.Forgive and you will be forgiven.Give and gifts will be given to you;a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,will be poured into your lap.For the measure with which you measurewill in return be measured out to you.”
REFLECTION:
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Funny that the first thing one hears from teenagers, or young people is "don't judge me".
There is a huge culture push for all not to say anything that might sound "condemning" or "judgy".
But , what is really happening? Have we stopped accepting feedback from our behavior? Are we so sure we are perfect as we are and we never need any kind of fraternal correction?
We cannot "judge" people's intentions. We really don't know what is happening inside their souls. But we can judge actions.
We judge when we look at both sides of the street before crossing; when we try to decide between vanilla or chocolate ice cream; when we realize that a fetus is a different person from their mother, and thus abortion is the murder of this small person...
We cannot condemn someone's motives, or assume what those motives might be.
We need to look inside ourselves first. To understand our own sin and be contrite. With the help of a confessor, we need to learn to be somewhat harsh on ourselves. To be aware of our own errors and pitfalls.
But this doesn't mean we cannot stand against injustices, especially against the weakest in our society: the poor, the unborn, the sick: against immoralities such as gay marriage or the exploitation of minors.
In the prayer for priests, PAPA Prayer for Priests, we pray for their sanctity and ask God to stir up in them the grace of their vocation. Do you think if we continue to do this, and they become saintly, they could teach us with their words and their example?
Think about how wonderful society would be if all our priests were saints!
