“Stop judging, that you may not be judged!”

Last week I was cooking for a dinner function at the parish and it was getting a little hot in the kitchen. I preceded to take off my white priest collar to let in a little fresh air. Well, the time came to begin churning the ice cream so I needed ice for the machine. On my short walk to the parish center to fill a bucket of ice I encountered a man from the area who was driving through the Church’s parking lot. He approached me abruptly and I received several minutes of rebuking for not wearing my white priest collar. I listened, dialogued a little, received his apology, and then we shook hands as he departed. It was all good, we left in peace.

Two things:

First, I love wearing my collar and being a priest of Jesus Christ; it is basically all I wear with the exception of sleeping, exercise, playing golf, fishing, cooking at times, showering and a few other casual situations. It is a great way of witnessing to the community of my identity as a priest of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we can often be very quick to judge even when we don’t know all the details. The gentleman I encountered had some great points, but also a little quick to judge the state of my relationship with the Lord and love for the priesthood because of a hundred yard walk without a collar.
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Here’s the proposal...be extra careful when we make judgments of others; strive to approach situations that are easy to judge with greater charity and patience. Sometimes we only see an outward imperfection, but are unaware of the inner disposition of the person acting. I often like to make excuses for the people I’m inclined to judge: maybe they’re crabby, because they only slept a few hours last night due to a family situation; maybe they are quiet and standoffish because a loved one is gravely ill; maybe someone’s phone ran in Church because they are a doctor and an emergency has come up? Who knows? Don’t get me wrong there is certainly a time for fraternal correction, but there are also many opportunities in our day for greater patience and charity with others.

When have you been judged? How did you talk to the person about it?

How often do you judge someone? What do you do to prevent judging others?

How can you interact with someone without judging them?

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged!”

"Help me not to judge."

"Lord help me to focus on you and not others."

When you are tempted to judge others? What is one thing you can do when you are tempted to judge?