On judging others

CHRIST told us very clearly that we should refrain from

judging others. “Do not judge, or you will be judged,” he said. “For

with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the

measure you use, it will be measured to you…” (Mt 7,1-2)

   

            We need to understand these words well. It’s not that we

should not judge at all, since with our spiritual nature that endows

us with intelligence and will, part of our way of knowing is precisely

to judge. It’s when we make judgments that we start to know things.

Our process of knowing covers the stages of simple apprehension, then

judgment, then reasoning.

  

            The words of Christ are meant to restrain us from making

rash judgments, especially on other people whose status in any given

moment we can hardly know completely. They are meant for us to judge

well so that we too can be judged fairly, that is, with compassion and

mercy, by others and ultimately by God.

  

            With others, we have to practice a lot of restraint and

moderation because the condition of any man will always involve

certain mysteries that we can hardly fathom. St. Augustine has this to

say about us: “Don’t you believe that there is in man a deep so

profound as to be hidden even to him in whom it is?”

  

            In fact, more than practicing restraint and moderation,

given how man is, or how we are, we should judge with charity, with

compassion and understanding, ever willing to give others the benefit

of the doubt in their goodness and innocence, and even trying to find

excuses for them. That’s because in the end, in spite of our

differences and mistakes, we are all brothers and sisters, all

children of God, bound to love one another.

  

            Even in those instances where one is already known to have

committed a big crime, and worse, is not sorry for it, we still cannot

make a final judgment on him. That final judgment belongs to God alone

who knows everything.

  

            An example of this is what Pope Benedict XVI said of Judas

Iscariot. “This mystery is even more profound if one thinks of Judas’

eternal fate,” he said, “knowing that he ‘repented and brought back

the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying ‘I

have sinned in betraying innocent blood.’ (Mt 27,3-4)

  

            “Though he departed afterward to hang himself (cf Mt

27,5), it is not for us to judge his gesture, putting ourselves in

God’s place, who is infinitely merciful and just.” (Audience, Oct 19,

2006)

             Everyday, we need to make some progress in knowing how to

judge people properly. It may be in the area of patience, of having a

pro-active attitude of thinking well of others in spite of what you

see in them, of learning how to keep quiet, or of simply protecting

ourselves from the more or less general atmosphere of fault-finding,

intrigue-sowing, gossiping, back-biting and the like.

  

            We just have to make sure that we think, judge and reason

out with God, since he gave us these powers that have to be exercised

under his law and terms, so to speak.

  

            God is the very foundation of reality. It is from him that

we come and to him that we belong. He is actually everything to us. It

would be funny if we think otherwise, although that is entirely

possible since we are capable to abusing our freedom, of thinking that

we can be absolutely on our own.

  

            Our usual problem is that we tend to think, judge and

reason out, and even love outside the orbit of God, outside the

purview of his laws and will. This is what our Lord meant when he said

we should not judge.