Judge

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/062215.cfm) reminds me that we should not judge others.

IT is easy to judge others. It is easy to tell what is wrong with others. It is easy to talk about the sins or imperfections of others. Sometimes, when the person is annoying, it can even be fun to talk about these things. However, Jesus in the gospel tells us we should not.

Judging others is usually a sign of our own insecurities.

We sometimes see and focus on the wrong of others instead of improving ourselves because it is easier to. Improving ourselves is painful and difficult, and it is easy to just focus and magnify the imperfections of others to prevent the attention be on us. When we talk about others, we feel that we can shun away the criticism that our own shortcomings bring.

We do not know what another person is going through.

Sometimes, we judge based on just what we see. However, there are a lot of times that we just see a very small amount of the real story. In the first reading, Abram was seventy five years old when God asked him to travel. Other people seeing his group might think he is crazy for travelling at such an old age where should just settle down. They can judge him, but they do not know his story – that God was the one who told him to set out at his age. When we judge, we most probably do not know the whole story, and thus we are not in a position to do that.

May we follow Jesus’ command not to judge others, and instead focus on improving ourselves.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. thank you for another week. thank you for all the blessings. Lord, thank you for the reminder. Sorry for the times I am quick to judge others. Sorry for the times I look past my own shortcomings. Help me see others the way you see me, the way you see them. May I be loving and accepting like you. Amen.

Blessed week!

In Christ,

-g-

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June 22, 2015

Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 371

Reading 1 Gn 12:1-9

The LORD said to Abram:

“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk

and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.

“I will make of you a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you

and curse those who curse you.

All the communities of the earth

shall find blessing in you.”

Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him.

Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Abram took his wife, Sarai, his brother’s son Lot,

all the possessions that they had accumulated,

and the persons they had acquired in Haran,

and they set out for the land of Canaan.

When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land

as far as the sacred place at Shechem,

by the terebinth of Moreh.

(The Canaanites were then in the land.)

The LORD appeared to Abram and said,

“To your descendants I will give this land.”

So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel,

pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east.

He built an altar there to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name.

Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.

Responsorial Psalm PS 33:12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,

the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

From heaven the LORD looks down;

he sees all mankind.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,

upon those who hope for his kindness,

To deliver them from death

and preserve them in spite of famine.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Our soul waits for the LORD,

who is our help and our shield.

May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us

who have put our hope in you.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Alleluia Heb 4:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of God is living and effective,

able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.

For as you judge, so will you be judged,

and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,

but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother,

‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’

while the wooden beam is in your eye?

You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;

then you will see clearly

to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”