Monday of the Second Week of Lent – Live and Let Live?

These days it isn’t the done thing to reprove others for their behaviour. Who is to say that my opinion, or the Church’s for that matter, is right on moral issues? Why should one point of view carry more weight than another, I mean we all have our opinion, right? We are all entitled to our point of view, just don’t try to tell me that yours is the right one because I need my freedom, I need room to do my own thing…

Sound familiar? It should do. The idea that there is no such thing as objective truth has steadily gained ground in society, along with the idea that true freedom is simply doing exactly as we please, regardless of the consequences. Is this what Jesus is telling us in today’s Gospel? “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.” You go your way and I’ll go mine? I think many would like to see it that way, after all who enjoys being corrected by others, who enjoys admitting they got it wrong? If we do start to read this passage as a license to do as we please, and ignore wrongdoing in ourselves and others, we miss the point. After all, how can we exercise true Christian charity by closing our eyes to sin? Does God show mercy by ignoring our faults or by forgiving them? “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Today’s Gospel has to be read in the context of doing God’s will in loving God, and our neighbour, as we ought to love ourselves. If we strive to live a Christian moral life, and we wish to help others to do the same, we must exercise charity. The charitable thing to do, may be to reprove ourselves; it may be to help others who find themselves in difficulty and error; the charitable thing will, however, never be to turn a blind eye. The real question is how we treat ourselves and others – with or without charity. Today’s gospel asks us some tough questions. Do I condemn myself or others? Do I sit in judgement, high on my moral throne, oblivious to my own faults and seek to take the place of God, the true Judge? Am I merciful, as God is merciful or do I seek to put others down? Do I take pleasure in pointing out faults in others and remain utterly unmoved, even hostile, when others seek to correct me with patience and love? Can I forgive?

We are being asked to love with a generosity that seems almost impossible. Indeed, without God’s grace it would be. We need his grace in order to show such compassion, understanding, forgiveness and mercy; we need to allow his grace to flow through us this Lent and conform us in his love. If we can show such charity, then we will find our freedom and reward; “For the measure with which you measure, will in return be measured out to you.”