The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to invoke the Spirit as we consider how we judge others without the care and compassion necessary to reveal the reality of their situation.
The reading from the Book of Genesis describes Abram’s Call and Migration.
* [12:1–3] Go forth…find blessing in you: the syntax of the Hebrew suggests that the blessings promised to Abraham are contingent on his going to Canaan.
* [12:2] The call of Abraham begins a new history of blessing (18:18; 22:15–18), which is passed on in each instance to the chosen successor (26:2–4; 28:14). This call evokes the last story in the primeval history (11:1–9) by reversing its themes: Abraham goes forth rather than settle down; it is God rather than Abraham who will make a name for him; the families of the earth will find blessing in him.
* [12:3] Will find blessing in you: the Hebrew conjugation of the verb here and in 18:18 and 28:14 can be either reflexive (“shall bless themselves by you” = people will invoke Abraham as an example of someone blessed by God) or passive (“by you all the families of earth will be blessed” = the religious privileges of Abraham and his descendants ultimately will be extended to the nations). In 22:18 and 26:4, another conjugation of the same verb is used in a similar context that is undoubtedly reflexive (“bless themselves”). Many scholars suggest that the two passages in which the sense is clear should determine the interpretation of the three ambiguous passages: the privileged blessing enjoyed by Abraham and his descendants will awaken in all peoples the desire to enjoy those same blessings. Since the term is understood in a passive sense in the New Testament (Acts 3:25; Gal 3:8), it is rendered here by a neutral expression that admits of both meanings.
* [12:5] The ancestors appear in Genesis as pastoral nomads living at the edge of settled society, and having occasional dealings with the inhabitants, sometimes even moving into towns for brief periods. Unlike modern nomads such as the Bedouin, however, ancient pastoralists fluctuated between following the herds and sedentary life, depending on circumstances. Pastoralists could settle down and farm and later resume a pastoral way of life. Indeed, there was a symbiotic relationship between pastoralists and villagers, each providing goods to the other. Persons: servants and others who formed the larger household under the leadership of Abraham; cf. 14:14.
* [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.
* [12:9] The Negeb: the semidesert land south of Judah. (Genesis, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 33 proclaims that God created the three-tiered universe of the heavens,
* [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 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns about 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 | USCCB, n.d.)
Molly Mattingly comments that the 1999 stop-motion film “The Miracle Maker” imagined a person with a two-by-four somehow sticking out of their eye, which seemed rather impossible.
Jesus and the crowd laugh as they picture the slapstick scene, with the silly arrogant carpenter who didn’t think to put down the beam before helping his friend. While this portrayal illustrates the potential destruction if I don’t recognize my own blindness, it also gives me permission not to take myself so seriously. That, in turn, helps me to be open to learning and making amends when my blind spots are revealed to me.
Finally, in this portrayal, the thing causing the person’s blindness (the beam) is a lot of work to carry around! It looks heavy and unwieldy - indeed, almost like a cross. I like that in this image it is possible to set the beam down. Maybe we don’t always know how to set it down, or we’re not even aware we’re carrying it. Until we can, though, I think it is better to just be present and trust that God will help others with their splinters just as God will help us to set down our wooden beams. With the psalmist, let us remember that God sees us even when our own vision is obstructed: “See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness.” Perhaps, having experienced God’s boundless mercy and compassion for ourselves, we can offer others greater compassion. (Mattingly, n.d.)
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 asks how can we become more aware of our own “wooden beams,” especially the ones that threaten our ability to look at each other with love and compassion?
It takes time, effort, and trust in God’s grace to remove the beams from our eyes. But nothing can compare to the joy that comes as we experience healing and freedom! And the best part of all? Every success brings us closer to the Lord. We discover that these wooden beams have kept us from seeing him in the people around us and from discovering him in the silence of our hearts.
Jesus wants to set us free. He wants us to be able to see the world, as well as ourselves, through his eyes. Let’s tell him we want the same thing!
“Lord, come and heal the way I look at the people you have put in my life.” (Meditation on Matthew 7:1-5, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that Genesis 12 is the first account of the Covenant with Abram, a semi nomadic herdsman who leaves with Sarah and Lot to a promised land with a new name of Abraham. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches us we do have to be observant but we cannot judge the responsibility of others. We don’t know the Grace they have received. As we remove the beam, the things we do may be worse. We seek help from the Spirit in giving up bad habits and discern when to react and when to be quiet. Friar Jude reminds us that our own conversion is important for our understanding.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces poet and CAC staff member Drew Jackson who reflects on how the first Christians cared for one another.
What was happening in these communities was the work of Spirit-inspired reimagination. There was a radical redistribution of wealth, and what drove this was not any particular form of ideology—it was not coercion—but was the simple fact that, as people being transformed by the Spirit, they could not move forward with anyone in their community having need. They could not move forward with anyone being in a position over or under anyone else due to wealth, status, or class.
This new relationship and redistribution are what it looked like as people were pulled into the vortex of the Spirit. It was an intensified giving, an intensified belonging, and an intensified loving. This is what loving action practically looked like in these newly formed and forming communities.
And so, as the wealth gap is only increasing in our world—because those in power want to make it so—we need a radically new way of belonging to one another. We need people who are not okay with the status quo of ongoing economic injustice, exploitation, and inequity, but who are freed from the tyranny of power, prestige, and possessions into a radical belonging and a radical love. (Rohr, n.d.)
We ponder the distractions that impede our understanding of the need of care and compassion in our relationship with people we encounter who may be victims of rash judgement.
References
Genesis, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/12?1
Matthew, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/7?1
Mattingly, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection June 23, 2025. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-june-23-2025
Meditation on Matthew 7:1-5. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/06/23/1311671/
Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?12
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Choosing Common Life. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/choosing-common-life/
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 23, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=jun23
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