Don't Judge (1/28/26)

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3/12/24 Can’t seem to get back to this. Stuck with the image that I am spitting into the wind and my eyes don’t have windshield wipers on them!

2/20/24 One of the things we hear frequently in homilies is “don’t judge”. While this fits in neatly with the idea that we don’t know what’s in someone else’s heart and therefore cannot “judge” them, it fails to make a necessary distinction. While it is true that we can’t judge them, I believe we can often judge their actions. If someone is throwing stones at passing cars on the freeway, we may not know what is motivating them or in their hearts at that time, but we can certainly judge their actions as inappropriate, dangerous, and wrong. I’m sure someone can construct a scenario where you could justify what they are doing but it would be a pathological case. Virtually everything we do is a judgement. I have to judge whether what I chose to eat is healthy or unhealthy. I have to judge whether I should go to church on Sunday or go to a ball game. Life is an endless series of judgements. If I say don’t judge, then should I ignore a jury summons? Or should I say I can’t judge someone on trial and let criminals go free. The whole mantra of don’t judge is an oxymoron. The more I think about it the more I am befuddled. In scripture we hear Jesus talking about the priests and implying rather uncomplimentary things about them. He says do what they say, but don’t act the way they do. There is an air of hypocrisy about that. It implies that they don’t act the way they say we should act. If that’s the case, then how do we trust them(the  church)? It causes me to reinforce what I am coming to believe about the church. It has lost its way because it doesn’t hold its priests to a gospel standard. There are many good priests who try to be good shepherds. Unfortunately, there are too many other priests (and bishops) who are corrupted by the power they relish and exert and thus cause too many lay people to leave the church. I keep hoping and praying that the Lord will support those who try to do the Father’s will.