First reading 2 Kings 17:5-8,13-15,18
There was none left, but the tribe of Judah only
The king of Assyria invaded the whole country and, coming to Samaria, laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah on the Habor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
This happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods, they followed the practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed for them.
And yet through all the prophets and all the seers, the Lord had given Israel and Judah this warning, ‘Turn from your wicked ways and keep my commandments and my laws in accordance with the entire Law I laid down for your fathers and delivered to them through my servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen, they were more stubborn than their ancestors had been who had no faith in the Lord their God. They despised his laws and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They pursued emptiness, and themselves became empty through copying the nations round them although the Lord had ordered them not to act as they did. For this, the Lord was enraged with Israel and thrust them away from him. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
Responsorial Psalm 59(60):3-5,12-13
Hear us, O Lord, and help us.
O God, you have rejected us and broken us.
You have been angry; come back to us.
You have made the earth quake, torn it open.
Repair what is shattered for it sways.
You have inflicted hardships on your people
and made us drink a wine that dazed us.
Will you utterly reject us, O God,
and no longer march with our armies?
Give us help against the foe:
for the help of man is vain.
Gospel Matthew 7:1-5
Do not judge, and you will not be judged
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How dare you say to your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.’
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Not to judge, but to love
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us, “Do not judge, and you will not be
judged”. What does Jesus mean? We sometimes can be so focussed
on judging others that we are unaware of our faults and failings. The
invitation is for us to notice “the great log” in our eyes before we
obsessively pay attention to the “splinter” in the other’s eye. Let us ask
Jesus to help us not regard ourselves as morally superior to others but
rather be aware of our faults and work on them.
judged”. What does Jesus mean? We sometimes can be so focussed
on judging others that we are unaware of our faults and failings. The
invitation is for us to notice “the great log” in our eyes before we
obsessively pay attention to the “splinter” in the other’s eye. Let us ask
Jesus to help us not regard ourselves as morally superior to others but
rather be aware of our faults and work on them.
The invitation not to judge also implies that we need to love the person
despite what they have done. We can disapprove of someone’s
behaviour and attitude, but we must never stop loving the person. In the
gospel stories, Jesus was open to telling people to stop sinning and was
critical of their actions. However, He continued to love the person for
who they were and never stopped giving them the chance to become
the person God had created them to be. Today, let us ask Jesus to give
us His eyes to see as He sees.
despite what they have done. We can disapprove of someone’s
behaviour and attitude, but we must never stop loving the person. In the
gospel stories, Jesus was open to telling people to stop sinning and was
critical of their actions. However, He continued to love the person for
who they were and never stopped giving them the chance to become
the person God had created them to be. Today, let us ask Jesus to give
us His eyes to see as He sees.
Question for reflection:
What is Jesus’ invitation for me today?
What is Jesus’ invitation for me today?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
