The Most Holy Name of Mary
Thursday of week 23 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Luke 6:27-38
“Do not judge”. How difficult it is not to judge but it’s very important we follow this commandment of Jesus. This comes after a very fundamental teaching of Jesus. “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate”. And in order to be compassionate like the Father, Jesus is giving the ways. And the first way is “Do not judge”. Then, come the other ones, “do not condemn, grant pardon, give abundantly”. But let’s mediate on the first one, “Do not judge”. Why? Because when you judge you destroy your relationship with that person. When I judge I take a distance from that person. But in Jesus Christ we are all united in His life. We all are united in the heart of Jesus. My unity with the other person in Christ is destroyed by my judgement about that person. Instead, with the life of Christ, I must try to understand that person so I can be compassionate like the Father. Instead of judgement, we understand the other in compassion so that unity in Christ is maintained. With judgements, I distance myself away from the other and from the unity provided in Jesus Christ. Let’s reflect: Do I recognize that my judgements about others are distancing myself from the unity in the heart of Jesus Christ?
Don Giorgio