The charism as measure

A recording of today's gospel and blog can be accessed here.

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Today’s gospel (Matthew 7: 1-5) is a famously sobering passage from the teachings of Jesus: Judge not, that you be not judged. Our judgements on others, says Jesus, will be the measure of God’s judgement on us. We must first take the log out of our own eye before we point out the faults of others.

This passage is important first in the moral life but not only at that level. We very frequently do not have all the information needed to pass judgement, although that rarely seems to stop us. We should say of course that there is judgement and judgement: one that is objective about the actions that we see performed, and another which is more speculative about the inner intentions behind the actions. The first kind of judgement is sometimes a sheer necessity since indifference or inaction to evil deeds is itself a position of moral compromise. Refusing to be party to the actions of another does not mean we are judging their intentions.

In the command of judge not, there is of course an emphasis on the gap between our accusations and our own actions where we do not live up to the measure we impose on our neighbour. But those wayward judgements already arise from prior mistakes in our own minds and hearts. The first of these mistakes is rash evaluation about a situation. If someone’s action seems wayward to us, the first thing to do is not to judge but to gather more information; to seek to understand; to bridge the gap between our understanding and what we have observed.

But the second of the mistakes that precede this judgement is righteous entitlement. It is the unconscious feeling that our position entitles us to pass this judgement, perhaps even that our judgement is legitimized by being our judgement, for we would know wouldn’t we, we the wise, we the experienced, we who have a fresh pair of eyes, we who are not held back by ingrained habit?

All this should matter not only to those who are serious about the moral life but those who are committed to some form of spiritual life that comes with promises or even vows. This criterion we could set down with this gospel in mind: I am not the judge of my brother or my sister with regard to the charism. Rather, it is the charism which is the measure of us all.

In this light, we can only keep on saying O Mary help us to say yes, no matter how unpleasant the prospects before us are.