Thursday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time

Reach Out Before Judging  

Christ won his victory on the cross. But it is slow to appear. When we read the New Law Jesus is giving in Matthew 5:20-26, we should not assume we or others in the Church have accepted it. 

People perceived the Old Law as God in heaven making rules to guide human behavior on earth. The New Law is for people who share in the life of Trinity. It calls us to base our behavior on the interaction of Father, Son and Spirit. It is a law of relationships. 

The Old Law said, “Do not kill.” The New Law says, “Whatever disrupts the relationship between you and your brother or sister in Christ is sin” (hamartia, to “miss” or “fall short”). 

When we think we perceive sin or error in others, the procedure Jesus mandated is: 1. Try to talk out your differences face to face and one-on-one. A level playing field promotes fair dealing. To express one’s thoughts honestly to another is to accept vulnerability. This is ministry in the surrendered spirit of “Thy will be done.” 2. If that fails, use “facilitators” who can help you understand each other. 3. As a last resort, submit the issue to authorities. (Add to today’s reading Matthew 18:15-20.) 

In practice, however, people do not “go first and be reconciled” with the brother or sister they are judging. They don’t even try. They first talk to others they think will agree with them, backing themselves up with a potential lynch mob. Then they jump immediately to what Jesus reserves as the “last resort”: they denounce the alleged offender to the authorities. And too often, the authorities, being of the same non-relational mindset, condemn the accused without allowing them to confront the accusers. This means that if there is a hearing, the authority must take the role of both prosecutor (presenting the charges) and judge. Any lawyer will tell you that in a process like this, the outcome is predictable: the “defense” does not have a chance. This violates natural justice.   

To be Trinitarian, that is, Christian, our interaction with each other must always be interpersonal—like that of Father, Son, and Spirit—not adversarial.   

Decision: Judge yourself before judging others. Who is guilty of the “greater sin”? 

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #362, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.