Stop judging, these are the first words Jesus says to his disciples in today’s gospel.  Jesus goes on to tell us that we will be judged by the same standard by which we judge others.  He also tells us we must look at our own sins before the sins of others.

All of this is true.  It is what Jesus taught but how well do we understand it?  Many today take Jesus’ words to stop judging to mean we can’t talk about any behavior as wrong.  This leads us into relativism.  Relativists say you can believe and do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.  To relativists there is no absolute truth.

But there is a Truth and God is the source of the Truth!

Our psalm today contains the words, “Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord.”  What does it mean to call God “Lord”?  I believe it means that it means that we accept God as our leader and will follow what he teaches.  It isn’t always easy.  We have the Bible to guide us but the New Testament was written 2,000 years ago and the Old Testament even longer ago.  So, the situations in which we live are different.  That doesn’t mean the Bible isn’t relevant today.  It just means the we need to rely on the Holy Spirit that has been guiding our Church for 2,000 years to help us know how to apply what Jesus said today.

Jesus clearly said “stop judging” but he also said to his disciples “Follow me.”  To follow Jesus is live as he lived, to follow his teaching.  It isn’t always easy but may we always be like Abram (who will become known as Abraham) in the first reading who “went as the Lord directed him.”

Peace,

Fr. Jeff