20180625
IMITATING THE JUDGEMENT OF GOD
25 JUNE, 2018, Monday, 12th Week,
Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
|
2 Kings 17:5-8,13-15,18 ©
|
|
There was none left, but the tribe of Judah only
|
The king of Assyria invaded the whole country and, coming to
Samaria, laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the
king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He
settled them in Halah on the Habor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the
Medes.
This
happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God who had
brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the grip of Pharaoh king of
Egypt. They worshipped other gods, they followed the practices of the nations
that the Lord had dispossessed for them.
And yet
through all the prophets and all the seers, the Lord had given Israel and Judah
this warning, ‘Turn from your wicked ways and keep my commandments and my laws
in accordance with the entire Law I laid down for your fathers and delivered to
them through my servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen, they were
more stubborn than their ancestors had been who had no faith in the Lord their
God. They despised his laws and the covenant he had made with their ancestors,
and the warnings he had given them. They pursued emptiness, and themselves
became empty through copying the nations round them although the Lord had
ordered them not to act as they did. For this, the Lord was enraged with Israel
and thrust them away from him. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 59(60):3-5,12-13 ©
|
Hear us, O Lord, and help us.
O God, you have rejected us and broken us.
You have been angry; come back to us.
Hear us, O Lord, and help us.
You have made the earth quake, torn it open.
Repair what is shattered for it sways.
You have inflicted hardships on your people
and made us drink a wine that dazed us.
Hear us, O Lord, and help us.
Will you utterly reject us, O God,
and no longer march with our armies?
Give us help against the foe:
for the help of man is vain.
Hear us, O Lord, and help us.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn17:17
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Heb4:12
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Matthew 7:1-5 ©
|
|
Do not judge, and you will not be judged
|
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not judge, and you will not be
judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and
the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given. Why do you observe
the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How
dare you say to your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,” when
all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of
your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter
out of your brother’s eye.’
IMITATING THE JUDGEMENT OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18; Mt 7:1-5
]
The scripture
readings today speak of judgement. In the first reading, we
read of the judgment of God on Israel. In the gospel, Jesus spoke of
human’s judgement. There is a great difference between the judgment of
God and man’s judgment. When God judges, He judges fairly with justice tampered
by compassion. When man judges, he often lacks objectivity. His
judgement tends to be skewed. Why is that so?
The judgement
of God is always for the good of humanity. When God judges, it is always with the
intention to heal and to save. God wants to save humanity. He does
not seek to destroy us because He is love. “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (Jn 3:16f)
This was how the Lord felt towards His people when they abandoned Him. “How can
I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is
changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce
anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man – the
Holy One among you.” (Hos 11:8f)
This is
unlike human judgement which is more to condemn and to destroy. Man judges
another so that he can put the other down. Our intention is to find fault
to make us feel better. That is why we are ever ready to pick on the mistakes
of others so that we can feel good with ourselves. We want to feel
superior to others, that we are able to spot their mistakes. Some even
maliciously enjoy seeing others penalized. Very often our judgment springs from
pride, insecurity, and defensiveness. We judge others so that we
can show ourselves to be better than them. When we judge others without
the intention of helping a person to do the right thing and so “save” him or
her, then we are wrong in making judgements. Such acts of judgements are
not meant to be constructive.
Secondly, the
judgement of God reflects who He is. When we judge others, it is
not so much that others are being judged. Rather, by judging others, we
show to others who we are. When God judges, it shows His justice, compassion,
love and holiness. Even when judging us God is always full of
compassion. His heart cries out for us because God knows that our sins
will hurt us ultimately. All He asks for us is our repentance. This
was the case of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. After 210 years of
idolatry, greed for a better life lead them to worship the pagan deities,
spiritual and moral corruption, alliance with foreign nations instead of
trusting in Yahweh, God delivered Israel up to their enemy, Assyria.
There was no other way to save the nation than to allow evil to destroy them as
it had reached a stage of no return. “This had happened because the
Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of
the land of Egypt, out of the grip of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They
worshipped other gods, they followed the practices of the nations that the Lord
had dispossessed for them.”
Human
judgment often is a reflection of who we are. It is said that we do not
see things as they are but we see things as we are. That is why the Lord
invites us to search our motives when we judge. “Do not judge, and you will not
be judged; because the judgements you will give are the judgements that you
will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given.”
How we look at situations is how we look at ourselves, from ourselves and our
perspective of life. A person who is narrow-minded in judgement shows how
narrow his perspective is. Thus, it behooves to know that we are
very much limited in judgment. This is why we need teamwork and
collaboration from others. Today, no one must think that he has the full
answer without first consulting the others who are in the know.
Thirdly, the
judgment of God is tempered by mercy. In the first reading, we read that God sent the prophets
to warn Israel of the consequences of their sins. “And yet through all the
prophets and the seers the Lord had given Israel and Judah this warning, ‘Turn
from your wicked ways and keep my commandments and my law in accordance with
the entire Law I laid down for your fathers and delivered to them through my
servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen, they were more
stubborn than their ancestors had been who had no faith in the Lord their
God. They despised his laws and the covenant he had made with their
ancestors, and the warnings he had given them.’” Even when judging, God
would appeal for repentance. He would not act till evil overtakes
us.
Human
judgment often is a reflection of our limits in love. When we cannot tolerate our
enemies and injustices anymore, we seek revenge. Our aim is to remove
them so that we have peace, not because we have any intention to help them to
come to terms with their sins and find repentance. Thus, human judgement
only shows how selfish and self-centered our love for others is. When we
are defensive of our own interests rather than genuinely concerned with the
interests of others, we tend to see things from our vantage point rather than
that of our enemies. If only we change sides with our enemies and
see from their point of view, we could perhaps become more sympathetic towards
them. Jesus said, “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye
and never notice the plank in your own?” The invitation of our Lord is to “Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk 6:36)
What does it
mean for us when we are called to judge? In the first place, we must be
careful not to misunderstand and take Jesus’ teaching on judgment out of
context. We cannot do away with the responsibility to make judgments.
Particularly as leaders, we are obliged to take a stand with regard the world
and its values. To abdicate this responsibility is to do injustice not
just to those under our care but to humanity at large. In the famous
response of Pope Francis with respect to gay relationships, when he said, “who
am I to judge?” he did not mean that the Church has nothing to say about
this matter. What Pope Francis was refraining from was the subjective
judgment of their actions. Indeed, the Lord tells us in the gospel,
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are
ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (Mt 7:15f)
What then are
the criteria for judgement? Firstly, those judging others must themselves come
under the judgement of God. We must submit ourselves to God’s judgement of what is
right and good before we can judge others. “How dare you say to
your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye”, when all the time
there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own
eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of
your brother’s eye.” The book of Psalms says, “Against you, you alone,
have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are
justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.” (Ps 51:4)
St Paul wrote about judging himself. “But with me it is a very small
thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge
myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby
acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce
judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the
things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then
each one will receive commendation from God.” (1 Cor 4:3-5)
In the final analysis, God is our ultimate judge.
Secondly, we
must judge by the fruits of what people say and do. “Are grapes gathered
from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same
way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every
tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus
you will know them by their fruits.” (Mt 7:16-20)
Indeed, our fruits will show who we are. As St Paul warned us, “Do not be
deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to
your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the
Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” (Gal 6:7f)
So let us be discerning in judgement!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment