Judging

Today’s Gospel:  After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." 28 And he left everything, and rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" 31 And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:27-32

Reflection:  Once a sinner, always a sinner, this is the human norm. But God’s norm is different; “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:32 There is scope in God’s eyes to change and to be thus looked upon as righteous.

Similarly, once a person is caught or condemned, he is always so by human standards but God’s standards are different, in his heart there is room for us to change and return. 

Can we humans be like God and change our attitude towards people and become like God? Not completely; because, unlike God we cannot know the genuineness of a person’s heart and the inner motivations with which one has repented.

But this is not an excuse to behave like humans, in the sense communicated above; for we can and have been given the ability and the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit. More so, as Christians we need to genuinely respect a person and even to seek to know with discernment the real motivation and truth.

This requires the patient attitude of letting go of our pre-conceived prejudices and even immediate judgments or pre-judgments based on mere information rather than a thorough study of the individual or subject.

More so as Christians our Judgment for wrong judgments can be severe for not learning from our master’s example; how he was crucified as a sinner, blasphemer and wrongdoer without a proper investigation by anyone, especially those in authority. Hence better still; not to judge!(cfr. Mt. 7:1)

Prayer: Lord, may I count on your wisdom before arriving at a judgment about any individuals.

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