The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our sometimes too keen ability to respond critically and judgmentally to situations that trigger our far too sensitive “hypocrisy” detector.
The reading from the Book of Genesis describes the Call of Abram.
* [12:6] Abraham’s journey to the center of the land, Shechem, then to Bethel, and then to the Negeb, is duplicated in Jacob’s journeys (33:18; 35:1, 6, 27; 46:1) and in the general route of the conquest under Joshua (Jos 7:2; 8:9, 30). Abraham’s journey is a symbolic “conquest” of the land he has been promised. In building altars here (vv. 7, 8) and elsewhere, Abraham acknowledges his God as Lord of the land. (Genesis, CHAPTER 12, n.d.)
Psalm 33 praises the Greatness and Goodness of God.
* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 33, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns against judging others.
* [7:1–12] In Mt 7:1 Matthew returns to the basic traditional material of the sermon (Lk 6:37–38, 41–42). The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one’s fellows and God’s conduct toward the one so acting.
* [7:1] This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others, which would be hardly compatible with Mt 7:5, 6 but against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one’s own faults.
* [7:5] Hypocrite: the designation previously given to the scribes and Pharisees is here given to the Christian disciple who is concerned with the faults of another and ignores his own more serious offenses. (Matthew, CHAPTER 7, n.d.)
Thomas Lenz comments that we seem to want to hold on to all that is familiar, even if it causes harm and anxiety and doesn’t allow us to see. The supposed security, safety, and predictability of the familiar beam that we hold onto is easier for us to deal with than the unknowing of letting it go—even if it causes us pain and the inability to truly see. But, as God told Abram, if we can find a way to let go, all will be very well—even blessed. It doesn’t seem we could get any better security than that!
The storylines from today have good messages about faith, trust, and non-judgment. But within those storylines is also something important for us to pay attention to about letting go. Perhaps we are to let go of the obvious and familiar story so we can see the larger story. Maybe it’s about letting go of our small selves, the one that doesn’t allow us to see a different and more spacious storyline. It seems that we need to move, change, grow, and not stand still being complacent with the familiar. If we can recognize that our interpretation of the same old storyline has become safe and secure but also boring and sleepy, then maybe we are falling asleep, and it’s time to take out the wooden beam and move on from home. As the Lord said to Abram, if we can do this, then “All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” (Lenz, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Judge from justice, forgive from grace,” by Ephrem the Syrian, 306-373 A.D.
"Do not judge, that is, unjustly, so that you may not be judged, with regard to injustice. With the judgment that you judge shall you be judged (Matthew 7:2). This is like the phrase 'Forgive, and it will be forgiven you.' For once someone has judged in accordance with justice, he should forgive in accordance with grace, so that when he himself is judged in accordance with justice, he may be worthy of forgiveness through grace. Alternatively, it was on account of the judges, those who seek vengeance for themselves, that he said, 'Do not condemn.' That is, do not seek vengeance for yourselves. Or, do not judge, from appearances and opinion and then condemn, but admonish and advise." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 6.18B) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 7:1-5 comments that Jesus is teaching us that the path toward peace begins with an inward glance. It begins by asking the Spirit, “What about me? How did my actions get us here—and what can I do differently?” When we focus on our own heart first, we see our “beam” more clearly and begin to see our brother or sister and their “splinter” more objectively. And as we consider the ways that we could change, we remember that the “other” isn’t a problem to be solved but a person to be loved. Then the Spirit can soften our hearts and remind us that our goal isn’t to win but to love.
This isn’t easy, but it is the way of peace and the way of Christ. He will give us the grace we need to live it out. Today, ask the Holy Spirit, “Is there any unresolved conflict that you want to overcome in my life? How can I grow in loving your people?”
“Search me, O Lord. Help me to see myself and the people around me the way you do.” (Meditation on Matthew 7:1-5, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes that the text from Genesis moves to entering into the history of Abram, who existed as a semi nomad, from the etiology of the first chapters. When we attempt to notice when people are in trouble, we don’t know how culpable they are. Friar Jude reminds us that we all have different levels of gifts so our arrogance or self righteousness is out of place.
Barbara Holmes calls contemplation “a soft word in a hard world.” She differentiates between crisis contemplation and contemplation as it’s usually considered. Philosopher Bayo Akomolafe says it most clearly. He says the first thing you do is slow down:
To ‘slow down’ … seems like the wrong thing to do when there’s fire on the mountain. But here’s the point: in ‘hurrying up’ all the time, we often lose sight of the abundance of resources that might help us meet today’s most challenging crises. We rush through the same patterns we are used to. Of course, there isn’t a single way to respond to a crisis; there is no universally correct way. However the call to slow down works to bring us face to face with the invisible, the hidden, the unremarked, the yet-to-be-resolved…. It is about staying in the places that are haunted. [1] (Holmes, 2023)
Holmes describes the challenge of “slowing down”:
In order to love, you have to slow down. There’s no such thing as “drive-by loving.” You have to give attention to the object, to the person, of your love. There has to be reciprocity and mutuality. It is giving ourselves over, letting go so that something else can do the loving through us, and for us, because we’re not capable of it. (Holmes, 2023)
We, like Abram, are on a life journey where slowing down and seeking better understanding by invoking the Spirit will help us address situations with the mercy, compassion, and patience modelled by Jesus.
References
Genesis, CHAPTER 12. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/12?1
Holmes, B. (2023, June 26). Slowing Down Is the Solution — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/slowing-down-is-the-solution-2023-06-26/
Lenz, T. (2023, June 26). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/062623.html
Matthew, CHAPTER 7. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/7?1
Meditation on Matthew 7:1-5. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/06/26/716601/
Psalms, PSALM 33. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?12
Schwager, D. (n.d.). First Take the Log out of Your Own Eye. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 26, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=jun26
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