Today is the last Friday of the 40 days of Lent. Are you preparing yourself for the holiest week of the year? I suggest that everyone spend an hour this coming week in front of the Blessed Sacrament in preparation for the Triduum. What a wonderful heavenly climate to realize that Jesus is God. As you “fix your eyes” on the eucharistic Jesus (Heb. 3: 1) let Him fill you with “eucharistic amazement.” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul II, 6. Let’s make Holy Week a priority!
Judging Others
Matthew 7: 1-6
Jesus’ teaching on judgment has two sides. 1) He condemns judging others’ faults. (7: 1-2) We can’t judge others with fairness and accuracy because we can’t see another’s heart like God can. He alone know the heart. 2) However, Jesus commands us to exercise critical discernment (7: 6, 15-19.) Otherwise, we might profane what is holy (7: 6) or embrace what is false. (7:15)
7:2 you will be judged: We set the standards of our personal judgment (by God) by our own conduct toward others. (cf 18:35)
7: 6 dogs. . .swine: The Jews would call pagans, dogs and swine. Jesus uses these insulting labels to describe anyone who is inhospitable to the Gospel–both Jew and Gentile. what is holy: In Judaism, holiness characterizes anything consecrated for covenant worship. To treat holy things, then, in a common manner would profane them. (Ex 29: 37; Lev 22: 10-17) Jesus is applying this notion in the New Covenant. The Early Church used this statement to rightly withhold the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist from the unbaptized.
Next time: Chapter 7: 7-20
Study Question: The Gospel for Palm (Passion) Sunday: Luke 22: 14-23:56)
Meditation: In heaven, the saints stand “before the throne and the Lamb, dressed in long white robes and holding palm branches in their hand.” (Rev. 7:9) Some Palm Sundays last forever. Yours can as well.—One Bread One Body for Sunday, March 24, 2013.
Dr. Linda L. Powell 