The prophet Daniel admits to his guilt and the guilt of his people in today’s first reading for mass. He doesn’t hide a thing from God, but simply acknowledges the sad state of affairs of both himself and his people. Would that we could be so transparent when it comes to our own examination of conscience, before we go to confession this Lent. The Prophet Daniel sounds very much like the prodigal son, except he is speaking for his entire people who rejected God and did not live by His commandments.
Compare Daniel’s transparency of heart to the gospel reading for today though, and you will see a very striking difference. Jesus warns us to be merciful, not to judge, to stop condemning, forgive and to give to others. The prophet Daniel simply acknowledged the sinful state of his people with all honesty, but did not point the finger or blame them. He prayed for them and asked for God’s mercy. Daniel also acknowledged himself as a sinner and considered himself to be the same as his people, no better and no worse.
There is such a fine line between acknowledging other people’s sins, or accepting their sins, and judging them. In fact, many people will throw this scripture verse up to those who do call attention to their sins (“stop judging and you will not be judged”). This verse in scripture causes a lot of confusion sometimes because we are also called to admonish or correct one another too. Adultery, stealing, lying, etc. is wrong and people will eventually come to accept these sins as being a normal way of life, if no one corrects them. Evil exists when good people do nothing.
Mutual respect might be the key to Jesus is talking about in today’s gospel:
Stop judging … and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning … and you will not be condemned.
Forgive … and you will be forgiven.
Give … and gifts will be given to you.
Christ always taught us to treat others the same way that we ourselves want to be treated, and today’s gospel continues this theme. If we commit a serious sin, would we want someone to confront us about it, in hopes that we would turn from our serious sin? Or would we want to be accepted by other people, and expect them to not judge us and ignore what we are doing that is wrong, for the sake of getting along?
There is a much more excellent way. That would be to talk to a person privately, without judgement, condemning, or pointing fingers at them about their behavior. This is a fine art, but it is one we are called to do. Find common ground, share something we may have done that was wrong once too, and how we came to realize that it negatively affected our lives and hurt those around us. Admit that we are sinners too, when we are called to correct another person. The Prophet Daniel did this in today’s first reading for mass. He considered himself no better than anyone else, but sought God’s mercy for himself and for his people as well.
People are a lot more willing to listen when you acknowledge that you are not a perfect person either.
Daily Mass Readings:
Daniel 9:4b-10 / Psalm 79:8,9,11,13 / Luke 6:36-38
