Monday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, June 22, 2020

Matthew 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.”

“Stop judging that you may not be judged.”  In order to understand what Jesus is saying here, it is necessary to know what he is not saying.  Jesus is not not saying that his followers should not have opinions or make critical evaluations.  Indeed, he tells the Apostles to be “wise as serpents” (Matthew 10, 16).  We should also note that just after Jesus tells them not to “judge”, he instructs them “not to give that which is holy to dogs” (v. 6).  He expects them, then, to distinguish some people as dogs (the Gentiles) and some people as worthy for that which is holy.  Jesus also gives detailed instructions for dealing with an erring brother, in Matthew 18, 15-17.  The Lord clearly intends for the Church to make a judgment in this case and, if necessary, to allow the offender to suffer the consequences of his actions.  We see St. Paul judging a man who is living immorally with his mother, in 1 Corinthians 4, 4-5, and excommunicating him.  We note, though, that these judgments are made concerning a person’s exterior actions; they are not made with regards to the person’s interior — his understanding, motivation, intent, and things of this kind.  As St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, only God can see inside of a person and know what is there, and so only God can judge his heart.  Yet we are able to judge a man’s actions and hold him responsible for them.

As an aide, these days people often tell other people not to “judge” them, which in this sense means not to have an unfavorable opinion of them.  But it is not fair to demand this of people, who have a right to form their own opinions.  Interestingly, a person making such a demand does so out of guilt — otherwise, there is no sense in doing this.  This person is fully aware that what he is doing is wrong.  He simply does not want anyone to reinforce his own guilt.

When Jesus speaks of splinters and beams, he is reminding us that with our fallen human nature and sins, we are not in a position to judge the hearts of others, only his acts.  He intimates that in attempting to judge hearts, we usurp the place of God, and we shall be judged harshly by him as a result.  We recall the parable of the weeds and the wheat, in Matthew 13, 24-30: the landowner allows the weeds and the wheat to grow together until the day of the harvest.  The wheat does not recognize and uproot the weeds, nor does the landowner permit his servants to do this.  At harvest time, however, all is to be gathered together and then carefully separated, with the weeds to be burnt.  This is for two reasons: first, some weeds closely resemble wheat, and only someone who really knows his job, like the landowner, can tell them apart; second, the weeds and wheat grow together and become intertwined, further confusing someone who might be trying to get rid of the weeks.

Let us do what we are told then, and no more, so that we do not encroach on God’s prerogative.  But let us not be afraid to form opinions based on the best evidence available to us so that we may keep ourselves safe and preserve order in society and in the Church.