Monday 22 June

Today is Monday the 22 June, in the twelfth week of Ordinary Time.

Moira Smiley and Tommy Blaize sing a setting of Psalm 57 by Steven Faux; Have mercy on me O God…my soul has trusted in you. 

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.  For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.  Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your neighbour, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.”

How easy it can be for us to judge others.   Have you ever felt angry at the fault of others?   Can you remember it, what it was about?  Was there some weakness in yourself that was at the heart of your anger, or was it “all them”?

Have you ever felt judged by someone else?  What was that like?  How did it feel to you?

Listen to the reading again, and to the invitation Jesus makes to us, to look with friendly eyes at those around us.

What can you ask of God now that might help you not to judge by appearances, but see the underlying beauty in the people you live with and work with?  What can you ask of God that might help you see yourself and other people as God does?