Sunday Readings
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (cf. Luke 6:37)
My Dearest People of God,
Today’s readings exhort us to examine our lives first to see how we can become better versions of ourselves, rather than judging others by gossiping, condemning, or harming their reputation by our careless and unbridled utterances.
A responsible person thinks before he speaks but fools open their mouths and let out rubbish. A person of integrity knows when to keep silent and when to talk. Good words flow from a generous and kind heart while evil and destructive words flow from an uncaring and reckless heart. A tree is known by its fruit and out of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Sirach’s teaching in the first reading serves as an excellent preview for today’s Gospel, which exhorts us to be thoughtful with our words before we speak because what comes out of our mouth reveals the depth of the heart. Every human disagreement often begins with spoken words. Words can make or mar human relationships or our identities. Sirach warns us that we need to be very careful with what we say.
In the second reading St. Paul advises the Corinthian Christians “…to be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” This is what we are to do rather than wasting time on useless and sinful conversations, which bring punishment instead of eternal reward.
Today’s Gospel passage, taken from the Sermon on the Plain given in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus condemns our careless, malicious, and rash judgments over the behavior and actions of others. Each one of us has had experiences of saying things we deeply regretted but by then, the harm had already been done. Even though we may revoke our words, the initial damage or harm may not be reversed. In marriage and our relationships, we often say abominable and hurtful things when there is a conflict or misunderstanding, only to regret them later. We judge others and complain about what we suffer in their hands without thinking about what they suffer in our hands. Have you, dear child of God, had any regrets in the past for uttering words that deeply condemned or hurt others in a way that affected their attitude towards you and how they feel about themselves? When we judge others we make reconciliation with them a difficult task. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother St. Theresa
People may not judge our intentions but they judge us from the words we speak. Our words reveal what we have in mind, so we have to be prudent in speech. We often get into trouble because we say unhealthy things about others behind their back. In the book of Proverbs we read, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but hard words stir up anger.” (cf.Proverbs 15: 1) “Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” (cf.Proverbs 16:24) Never say anything about another you cannot say in his or her presence. This is a matter of Christian charity and love we owe to others, not simply a way of avoiding getting into trouble. It is a sin to blackmail or sabotage the efforts of others. As Christians, we must bring positive changes in people’s lives.
An empty vessel, an adage says, makes the most noise and an unexamined life is bound to make mistakes. There are times when we say things with good intentions but it becomes misinterpreted by others. It happens because either we spoke out of context, made wrong references or assumptions or we sounded judgemental or simply were insensitive to the situation on the ground. Whatever be the reason, such could have been avoided if we are reserved in speech. We must pause our reaction to consider all the evidence on the ground, and speak with a compassionate and empathic spirit.
Reasons we should avoid judging others:
No one except God is good enough to judge others because only God sees the whole truth, and only He can read the human heart. Hence, only He has the ability, right, and authority to judge us.
We do not see all the facts or circumstances or the power of the temptation which has led a person to do something evil. We are often prejudiced in our judgment of others, and total fairness cannot be expected from us, especially when we are judging those near or dear to us.
We have no right to judge because we have the same faults as the one we are judging and often in a greater degree. Remember Jesus’ example of a man with a log in his eye trying to remove the dust particle from another’s the eye? Do not judge another because if you found yourself in the same situation as that person, you might even do the worse. Be compassionate! St. Philip Neri commented, watching the misbehavior of a drunkard: “There goes Philip but for the grace of God.” Abraham Lincoln once said: “The only one who has the right to criticize is the one who has the heart to help.”
Hence, we should leave all judgment to God, practice mercy and forgiveness, and pray for God’s grace to get rid of all forms of hypocrisy in our lives. Let us remember the warning of saints: “When you point one finger of accusation at another, three of your fingers point at you.”
We need to withdraw to our inner selves to examine our lives properly as Christians and cultivate internal peacefulness, love, and understanding that will motivate our inner thoughts and words.
We ask God to help us build human relationships with positive, encouraging, motivational, kind, and loving words. We must strive to eschew all forms of negative and judgemental words. Let us ask God to transform us as we begin the Lenten season this coming Ash Wednesday. May He give us the Grace to make the best out of the lenten season.
