Fr. Piero Lazzarini
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
(“The test of a man is in his own conversation, Ben Sirach, 1st reading)
The message of this Sunday is about judgement (abstaining from condemning neighbour) and about discernment.
- “Do not judge - Jesus says – and you will not be judged yourselves”; “why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?” But how is it possible not to judge? We see evil around us and we say nothing? We see wrongdoing, corruption, injustice... and we keep quiet? We comply? Surely we must exercise good judgement to distinguish between good and evil around us! But...
+ ONE THING IS to make ourselves judges over our neighbour (out of a sense of superiority as if we were totally innocent), with a view to condemn and punish... Consider Jesus and the woman caught committing adultery. Jesus says: “Let anyone of you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her”!
Yes, we have the duty of fraternal correction, but this is to be done with honesty and humility, not with arrogance and a sense of superiority.
When we look back on our life, we realise that those who helped us grow, were those who supported us and showed understanding, not those who judged us and corrected us harshly.
+ .ANOTHER THING IS to discern good and evil objectively in society and in the community, in order to denounce wrongdoing and injustice, or to defend people. Jesus did point fingers at the scribes and the Pharisees because they were false and arrogant, teaching a false religion, distorting even God’s commandment, robbing and exploiting the poor and widows... Here there is a duty to speak out and to act with courage – and honesty, of course.
- DISCERNMENT
We cannot go through life blindfolded. We have to watch, observe, consider and ACT... Doing what? Acting out our faith, to give witness to what we have learned from the gospel, Jesus’ teaching. We cannot trust anybody blindly, especially when there are people who suffer in the family, in the community, in church.
Jesus invites us to watch carefully: “Every tree can be told by its own fruit”. Ben Sirach (First reading): “The test of a man is in his conversation”. Conversation here means: a person’s normal behaviour.
Some people may pretend good feelings or say sweet words or express good intentions or go to church to shout: Lord, Lord... but where are their fruits, the genuine fruits? You have to watch their actions carefully and listen attentively. The fruits of such people must be real, concrete, acts of love, service, selfgiving... If it is only pretence, the cheating (hypocrisy!) cannot go on too long.
The root of the problem is the heart, we must aim at the heart. Jesus, John the Baptist, the prophets started from the heart and continued to hammer the heart: “Repent, change your heart! Begin to produce good, genuine fruits”.
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
(“The test of a man is in his own conversation, Ben Sirach, 1st reading)
The message of this Sunday is about judgement (abstaining from condemning neighbour) and about discernment.
- “Do not judge - Jesus says – and you will not be judged yourselves”; “why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?” But how is it possible not to judge? We see evil around us and we say nothing? We see wrongdoing, corruption, injustice... and we keep quiet? We comply? Surely we must exercise good judgement to distinguish between good and evil around us! But...
+ ONE THING IS to make ourselves judges over our neighbour (out of a sense of superiority as if we were totally innocent), with a view to condemn and punish... Consider Jesus and the woman caught committing adultery. Jesus says: “Let anyone of you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her”!
Yes, we have the duty of fraternal correction, but this is to be done with honesty and humility, not with arrogance and a sense of superiority.
When we look back on our life, we realise that those who helped us grow, were those who supported us and showed understanding, not those who judged us and corrected us harshly.
+ .ANOTHER THING IS to discern good and evil objectively in society and in the community, in order to denounce wrongdoing and injustice, or to defend people. Jesus did point fingers at the scribes and the Pharisees because they were false and arrogant, teaching a false religion, distorting even God’s commandment, robbing and exploiting the poor and widows... Here there is a duty to speak out and to act with courage – and honesty, of course.
- DISCERNMENT
We cannot go through life blindfolded. We have to watch, observe, consider and ACT... Doing what? Acting out our faith, to give witness to what we have learned from the gospel, Jesus’ teaching. We cannot trust anybody blindly, especially when there are people who suffer in the family, in the community, in church.
Jesus invites us to watch carefully: “Every tree can be told by its own fruit”. Ben Sirach (First reading): “The test of a man is in his conversation”. Conversation here means: a person’s normal behaviour.
Some people may pretend good feelings or say sweet words or express good intentions or go to church to shout: Lord, Lord... but where are their fruits, the genuine fruits? You have to watch their actions carefully and listen attentively. The fruits of such people must be real, concrete, acts of love, service, selfgiving... If it is only pretence, the cheating (hypocrisy!) cannot go on too long.
The root of the problem is the heart, we must aim at the heart. Jesus, John the Baptist, the prophets started from the heart and continued to hammer the heart: “Repent, change your heart! Begin to produce good, genuine fruits”.