20240906 JUDGMENTALISM A SIN OF PRIDE
07 September 2024, Saturday, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Corinthians 4:1-5 |
The Lord alone is our judge
People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 36(37):3-6,27-28,39-40 |
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit your life to the Lord,
trust in him and he will act,
so that your justice breaks forth like the light,
your cause like the noon-day sun.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Then turn away from evil and do good
and you shall have a home for ever;
for the Lord loves justice
and will never forsake his friends.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
their stronghold in time of distress.
The Lord helps them and delivers them
and saves them: for their refuge is in him.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps18:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words gladden the heart, O Lord,
they give light to the eyes.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn8:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:33-39 |
When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast
The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’
He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old.
‘And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good” he says.’
JUDGMENTALISM A SIN OF PRIDE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 CORINTHIANS 4:6-15; LUKE 6:1-5]
We are often judged wrongly and unfairly by others, especially those who do not like us. This is true even when we are in the apostolate or in ministry. The Church is not much different from the world because the Church is a community of sinners and imperfect saints striving to grow in holiness. But even in spiritual life, we are blinded by our pride and egoism. Let us never forget Pope Francis’ warning that spiritual worldliness exists in the Church, particularly among those who are apparently “righteous” and active Catholics. These are the ones who think highly of themselves and are ever ready to police others, pass judgment on others, point out others’ mistakes, report them to the authorities, and shame them.
This was what happened to St Paul and the apostles as well. They were all judged and condemned. The Pharisees complained to our Lord when they saw the apostles breaking the Sabbath by plucking the corns and rubbing them in their hands, actions tantamount to working on the Sabbath. They said, “Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the Sabbath day?” Jesus answered them, “So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the House of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is master of the Sabbath.” In Jesus’ understanding, compassion and charity for those in need precedes the Sabbath law that is made for man.
The Christians and their leaders in Corinth questioned the authority of Paul. They thought highly of themselves and the gifts that they had. They despised the competency of St Paul as an apostle. They thought they were better apostles than Paul. St Paul was humble in his own self-assessment. He did not claim to be the best of the apostles, or better than the rest of the Christian leaders. Instead, he regarded himself and all the Christian leaders as servants of Christ. He wrote, “Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.” (1 Cor 4:1) In the final analysis, all of us are servants of Christ. It does not matter which position we hold in the community or what function is assigned to us. We should only be concerned that we serve Christ who chose us according to the charisms He has given to us.
With regards to how well we have done, we should, as St Paul wrote, leave the judgment to God. He said, “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” (1 Cor 4:2) Indeed, it is not right for us to judge ourselves, much less others. St Paul said, “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.” (1 Cor 4:3f) Just judging their actions alone does not mean that they have the right motives in doing what they did. There are many hidden motives in what people do even when they are apparently doing good. “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 4:5)
St Paul goes to the heart of those who pass judgment on others – it happens because of insecurity, pride and self-importance. He wrote, “Take Apollos and myself as an example and remember the maxim, ‘Keep to what is written’, it is not for you, so full of your own importance, to go taking sides for one man against another. In any case, brother, has anybody given you some special right?” St Paul and Apollo, unlike the Corinthians, never competed with each other in the ministry. They simply did their jobs according to what the Lord had entrusted them to do. They never compared themselves with each other but always saw themselves as collaborators of the same mission. He wrote earlier, “For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Cor 3:2-9)
In contrast, the Corinthians were so full of themselves. They thought too highly of what they had achieved. They forgot that what they had and achieved was due to God’s grace alone. As St Paul wrote, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 3:10f) When we forget that we can build only because Christ is our foundation and the cause of our success, then we become ambitious, proud and egoistic. We focus more on ourselves than wanting to bring glory and honour to God, and like the Corinthians we forget about the grace of God. “In any case, brother, has anybody given you some special right? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given, how can you boast as though it were not?”
For this reason, St Paul sarcastically reprimanded them by comparing Apollos and himself with what they claimed to have accomplished and were proud of. Against the success, triumphs and glory of the Christian leaders in Corinth, Paul presented himself as one who was helpless, vulnerable, shamed, ignored, powerless, insulted, persecuted and treated as “the offal of the world, still to this day, the scum of the earth.” He said, “Indeed, I wish you were really kings, and we could be kings with you! But instead, it seems to me, God has put us apostles at the end of his parade, with the men sentenced to death; it is true – we have been put on show in front of the whole universe, angels as well as men. Here we are, fools for the sake of Christ, while you are the learned men in Christ; we have no power, but you are influential; you are celebrities, we are nobodies. To this day, we go without food and drink and clothes; we are beaten and have no homes; we work for our living with our own hands.”
From Paul’s recounting of the trials of the apostolate, we also learn that the graces of God given to us to accomplish His mission is not without effort and trials on our part. God’s assurance of His fidelity does not mean that carrying out the mission of Christ will always be easy. Indeed, most of the time, we have to go through much suffering, humiliation, rejection, opposition and struggles coming from within and without. So, when we think of our trials in the apostolate, we should not complain too much when we face challenges. In fact, like Paul, these trials are meant to keep us humble before Him so that we have nothing to boast about ourselves except His grace and mercy. Indeed, the psalmist testified, “The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. He grants the desires of those who fear him, he hears their cry and he saves them. The Lord protects all who love him; but the wicked he will utterly destroy.”
Yet, in all these, Paul was not vindictive or overly harsh towards them. In fact, after putting them in their place, he softened his tone and like a father, expressed his love and care for them. “I am saying all this not just to make you ashamed but to bring you, as my dearest children, to your senses. You might have thousands of guardians in Christ but no more than one father and it was I who begot you in Christ Jesus by preaching the Good News.” He wanted the best for them so that they could become more aware of God’s grace and mercy towards them. This would help them to be less judgmental towards others, or being too presumptuous in reading people’s motives and actions. We should leave judgment to God.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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