HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME.
THEME: Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Genesis 12:1-9
Psalm 32:12-13,18-20,22
Matthew 7:1-5
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*INTRODUCTION*
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Monday of week 12 in Ordinary Time, Year A.
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
In our first reading today, we hear how God called Abraham, who answered God’s call and embraced His path, leaving his ancestral homeland behind and embarking on the long journey towards the Land that God had promised him and his descendants. Back then, Abram himself, though married, had not yet had any child to succeed him, and both him and his wife were already very old, and Sarai, later Sarah, his wife, was already beyond child-bearing age. And yet, Abraham chose to trust in the Lord and followed Him. And for that, he became our father in faith and the ancestor of the Israelites and many other nations.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In our Gospel passage today, we heard that the Lord spoke to His disciples that they must truly be faithful to the Lord and not be like the hypocrites who like to judge others and compare themselves to those whom they deem to be less worthy or inferior than they are. Jesus warns against rushing to premature judgement, ‘do not judge and you will not be judged’. Perhaps Jesus was more aware than we are of the danger that in judging others we can easily get it very wrong.
RELATED: HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME.
*CONCLUSION*
When Jesus says ‘do not judge’, he is saying, ‘do not condemn’. We sometimes have an obligation to condemn what people do, their actions and behaviour. Yet, we are not to condemn the person. Jesus could be critical of people’s behavior without condemning the person. He continued to relate to the person as someone loved by God. In spite of what they may have done, he continued to call them to become the person God desired them to be. That is how the risen Lord continues to relate to us all. Even when we have sinned, he continues to love us. The way the Lord relates to us is how he wants us to relate to each other. John’s gospel declares that ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him’. If that is how God is with the world of human beings, it is also how we are to be with each other.
*BLESSINGS FOR THE NEW WEEK*
Wishing you a happy new week. May the Almighty God lead you to the path of prosperity and happiness.
Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
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