Daily Reflection for Friday, September 11, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners!
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091120.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22B-27
Responsorial: Psalm 84:3-6, 12
Gospel: Luke 6:39-42
Our reflection on Friday’s readings:
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? {Luke 6:41}
It seems that all around us these days are extreme judgments and criticisms. The news media calls attention to tragedies, crimes, and crises, and opinions fly around who is responsible, who should have done something to prevent it, or who has not handled the response correctly. Social media posts condemn actions and words of authority figures or celebrities, and comments on those posts either vehemently agree or disagree. People have been openly attacked or publicly shamed for acting a certain way or promoting their view with protests or other forms of demonstration. I find it all exhausting.
Yet in my own daily life, I know that my own “judgment” reflex has been particularly active. Here are just a few examples from the last week. A man honked and yelled at me while I sat at the drive through bank teller because he thought it was taking too long. A large group of people were walking together on a trail without masks and didn’t make way for me to pass at a safe distance. A delivery person left my package sitting out in the rain instead of placing it under the covered porch two feet away. What is their problem? How could they be so inconsiderate?
Oh, how I need to listen to the message from today’s gospel. Because if I do an honest examination of conscience, I know I do things to annoy, inconvenience or even be hurtful to others. And most of the time I do it without thinking or realizing it. When I make judgments about people based on what they are saying or doing, am I prepared to be held to the same standard?
Our merciful God sees all our faults and loves us despite them. And so we are called to respond to each other with love and not judgment. Today I will ask the Holy Spirit to guide my own words and actions and pray for the grace to temper my judgments of others.
Blessings to all,
Andra Liepa