DAILY MASS REFLECTIONS TWELFTH MONDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

 DAILY MASS REFLECTIONS TWELFTH MONDAY  OF ORDINARY TIME

Greetings brothers and sisters, Throughout the Gospels, Jesus makes a distinction between different types of judgment that are appropriate for different situations in different contexts. Despite appearances, the command to "stop judging" is not nearly as broad and general as it appears on the surface. The fact that this statement does not prohibit all forms of judging should not be overlooked.

According to Jesus, correcting a brother or sister is not out of the question. In Matthew 18:15-17 we read, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

 And the apostle Paul has similar thoughts on fraternal correction in his letter to the Galatians. There we read, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each man will have to bear his own load” (Galatians 6:1-5).

To be fair to ourselves and our own circumstances, Jesus encourages us to evaluate ourselves first before assuming the right to criticize others. He advises us to begin by conducting a self-examination while subjecting ourselves to critical scrutiny. In order to get our own lives in order, it is necessary to subject our habits and behavior to a process of moral evaluation and judgment. Therefore, according to the teachings on judgment, one should refrain from condemning others and instead examine oneself before reproving others.